


Spring Thaw

by SubMeowchineGun



Series: It’s Always Sunny On Nuxena [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: "attention shoppers someone's dropped a bag of lemons in aisle five", F/M, Gen, I started out wanting to write some short fluff and then all THAT happened, Pellaeon jumping to conclusions is the cause of half of that, Ridiculous misunderstandings, Some Relationship Drama, TECHNICALLY complete but there’s always a chance I’ll add more, aaaaaaand there it went, rating might go up later depending on how writing goes, the smut has been sequestered into just the one chapter if you're not about that, whoops make that TWO chapters I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-04-01 11:12:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13997052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SubMeowchineGun/pseuds/SubMeowchineGun
Summary: TheChimaerahas been stationed to remain orbiting Nuxena, and though the circumstances are unusual, her crew adjusts. Thrawn awaits the Emperors call to return to the fight against the Rebellion. In the meantime, he deals with the fallout of being "dead" for an extended period of time, alongside the unfamiliar hurdles of dating a human.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> unlike Cabin Fever, I don't have this entirely written, so it'll probably get updated once a week at most until I'm done with it, and fall into a more regular schedule after that.

A few months had passed since the _Chimaera_ had arrived, settling itself into an orbital path around Nuxena. The moon was still in the throes of winter, though the weather had plateaued into something a little more reasonable. Spring, chilly as it would be, was on the horizon, and Thrawn was looking forward to weather that was warmer than ten below freezing. Despite being so comparatively tiny, and near-constantly bundled in at least three layers, Liryn didn't seem phased by the cold beyond mild inconvenience. He supposed it came from the years of getting used to the moon's weather; Thrawn himself was less used to the cold now that he'd been away from Csilla for so long, with most of that time being spent on climate-controlled star destroyers.

The mine's transition to direct Imperial oversight had gone as smoothly as could be expected, given the unique circumstances. Nuxena's inhabitants were still adjusting to the military presence as well, though there had thankfully been no incidents in the town proper. There was some tension at the mine itself, the workers chafing against the presence of stormtroopers and the rotation of officers overseeing things now. Thrawn was confident that the situation would work itself out given some more time, as he'd been careful in his selection of which officers to assign. He'd had Pellaeon personally vet the command personnel slated to be stationed at the mine, and had even gotten picky with the trooper squads. Everything else would just have to run its course.

Captain Pellaeon had, just as Thrawn expected, demanded answers to what turned out to be a surprisingly short list of questions once the opportunity presented itself. Thrawn answered all of them, doing so with complete transparency. Gilad Pellaeon was one of the few members of the Imperial command structure that was actually competent and had some degree of loyalty, and he'd quickly earned Thrawn's respect. He was also one of a very short list of people that Thrawn would consider to be a friend, making him more than deserving of a complete explanation in Thrawn's eyes. Subsequently, once he’d caught Pellaeon up on the situation, the captain had simply been happy Thrawn was alive and well.

The _Chimaera’s_ first month in orbit was an adjustment period. While the crew had certainly received cold weather training, as was standard, most of them had never actually been stationed anywhere to put that training to use. Nuxena wasn’t quite as perpetually icy as someplace like Hoth, but it was still the height of winter. Thrawn had some adjusting of his own to do concerning Liryn. After their impromptu kiss on the observation deck, there had been an abrupt drop off in their interaction. Between resuming his duties as Grand Admiral and the changeover of management for the mine, it took that entire first month before he had anything even resembling free time again.

He did of course _see_ Liryn in that time; she may not have been directly involved in the running of the mine, but it had been the mining company that had a contract with her, not the Empire directly. This meant that the contract had needed to be redrawn and agreed upon, whether or not Thrawn had any intention of changing the terms. The entire ordeal was dealt with quickly enough, without any indication from either of them that the kiss on the observation deck had even happened.

With all the things vying for Thrawn’s attention, that first month passed before he knew it. The next time he saw her, a few days after that first month had passed, Thrawn didn’t even know she was on the ship until nearly an hour after the fact. He’d been in his office, completing some of the frankly excessive paperwork that had piled up during his “leave of absence”, leaving Captain Pellaeon in command while he worked.

Things on the bridge had so far been business as usual for Pellaeon. He was scanning a regular maintenance report when a technician in the crew pit spoke up.

“Captain, Governor Morastus’ ship has arrived. The shuttle is docking in hangar bay three.” Pellaeon looked up from his datapad, frowning at the news.

“Why wasn’t I informed of this earlier?” he asked the tech, and the younger man’s eyes widened, suddenly looking pale.

“Ah- I’m sorry, sir. The Governor requested transport an hour ago, I assumed there was another meeting.” The technician said this nervously, a slight tremor to his voice. Pellaeon frowned venomously at the tech, then turned to one of the officers in the crew pit.

“Commander, you have the bridge,” he informed them, turning and striding out once he received an acknowledgement. As far as Pellaeon knew, there _weren’t_ any meetings scheduled for today, least of all one involving the Governor. He quickly made his way to hangar three, passing a few groups of crewmen on the way there. At the same time he stepped into the hangar, he saw the Governor stepping off the shuttle ramp, accompanied by Lieutenant Jarrde on one side and her strill on the other. The creature, unlike the first time he’d seen it, was on a lead, the other end of which was tightly held in Liryn’s hand.

“Governor Morastus,” Pellaeon greeted, approaching as he did. “What an unexpected surprise.” While his tone was nothing except polite and professional on the surface, there was a notable undercurrent of annoyance to his words, if you knew what to listen for. Liryn blinked at him, evidently having caught onto his mood, looking a bit put off now.

“Sorry to drop in unannounced like this,” Liryn replied, not sounding very sorry, but rather something closer to nervous, “I need to talk to Thrawn.” Pellaeon eyed her, trying to get a read on what this might be about. Lieutenant Jarrde glanced between them without moving his head, looking uncomfortable with the underlying tension between two people who very thoroughly outranked him, despite the fact Liryn technically held no military rank. Giving up, Pellaeon linked his hands behind his back, distributing his weight evenly between both feet.

“I’m afraid the Grand Admiral is busy. If it is urgent, I would be happy to assist you,” Pellaeon told her, offering a verbal olive branch as it were. Some of the tension left Liryn’s shoulders and she relaxed, but shook her head.

“No, thank you, but it’s not really something you can help with, no offense,” she said. “It’s not exactly _urgent_ either, per say. Do you know when he’ll be free?” Pellaeon spared a glance at the chrono on his wrist, doing some mental calculations. It was a little after noon, and he knew Thrawn would usually take a break in about an hour's time.

“He should be available in an hour,” he said. Liryn looked a bit disappointed, with some resignation mixed in for good measure.

“Oh. I guess it’s my own fault, for just coming up here so suddenly,” she said, almost mumbling. The air currents in the hangar shifted just enough to send the strill’s smell right into Pellaeon’s face, and he suppressed a grimace. Lieutenant Jarrde had relaxed somewhat, but couldn’t hide the contortion of his own expression when the currents shifted again, taking the smell to him instead. Pellaeon mulled things over for a moment, finally coming to a decision.

“Have you ever been given a proper tour of the _Chimaera_ , Governor?” He waited for her to shake her head before continuing. “In that case, I would be happy to give you one while the Grand Admiral finishes his business.” There were no pressing matters he needed to attend to, and he could spare an hour if it meant maintaining a pleasant relationship between Liryn and their forces, and by extension make Thrawn’s job easier.While Pellaeon himself had never been one for politics, he knew Thrawn was even less fond of the political tip-toeing that came with his position. Liryn’s eyebrows rose in surprise at his offer, and Pellaeon got the distinct impression the two of them had gotten off on the wrong foot.

“I wouldn’t want to be a bother,” Liryn protested, and Pellaeon held up a hand to stop her, shaking his head.

“It’s no trouble, Governor,” he insisted, then glanced at Jarrde. “You’re dismissed, Lieutenant.” The man gave him a crisp salute, nodding politely to Liryn, before he swiftly exited through the hangar doors, using a different set than the ones Pellaeon had entered through.

“This way, Governor,” Pellaeon told her, leading the way out of the hangar. He paused at the doors to let her catch up, taking the opportunity to examine her as she did. Liryn was dressed much the same way she’d been every other time Pellaeon had seen her, in warm clothes and heavy snow boots. The only noticeable difference was that rather than having her hair pulled back and under a hat, it was loose, with her usual beanie stuffed into a pocket of the winter jacket draped over one arm. His observation ended there, Liryn having caught up enough to fall into step beside him as he started walking again. The strill walked on her other side, easily keeping pace while he looked around with his ears perked up. Pellaeon was glad to see that he was leashed; the strill had seemed obedient enough the last time he’d been aboard, but the captain still wasn’t sure about him.

“Is there anything in particular you would like to see, Governor?” Pellaeon asked, linking his hands behind his back as he walked. Liryn made a contemplative noise.

“I don’t know,” she began, readjusting her grip on her jacket, “This is the only star destroyer I’ve ever been on, so I wouldn’t know where to start.” She corrected Kiran’s path with a gentle tug on his leash when he started to stray too far away. Pellaeon hummed in thought at this, considering what might be the best thing to occupy Liryn with.

He knew for a fact that she’s already seen her fair share of the briefing rooms, due to the various meetings regarding the mining contract. He also knew she’d been to the smaller mess hall intended for use by the upper-level officers her first time on board. Though the things Thrawn had told him about Liryn specifically hadn’t been very detailed with regards to any personal information he might have gathered about her, Pellaeon was fairly certain that she wouldn’t be interested in the _Chimaera’s_ offensive or defensive capabilities. Pellaeon had found that most civilians, though they might be impressed by the demonstration of a star destroyer’s turbolaser batteries, cared little for the specifics of the workings behind them. As they walked, Pellaeon found he had subconsciously been leading them back in the direction of the bridge. They were already over halfway there, the hangar bay Liryn had been brought to being the one intended for receiving important visitors, meaning that it was located closer to the bridge than any of the other hangars.

“How would you like to see the bridge, Governor?” Pellaeon asked as they reached a turbolift, pressing the panel to call it to their level. Liryn blinked, shifting in place while they waited.

“Sure, that sounds fine,” she replied, then glanced at Kiran. “Are you sure it’s alright to bring Kiran? I wouldn’t want him to get in the way, or be a distraction.” The strill looked up at the mention of his name, tail wagging as he looked between Liryn and Pellaeon.

“Quite,” Pellaeon answered, “There won’t be any problem, I assure you.” The lift arrived and they stepped onto it, the doors sliding soundless shut as the captain hit the button to take them to the bridge. “The bridge officers are all highly trained, and we will be staying on the command walkway, not going into the crew pit.” The muffled sound of the lift moving quickly upwards surrounded them and Pellaeon knew it would only be a few minutes before they reached their destination.

“Ah, okay,” Liryn said, falling silent afterward, the same nervous air from earlier beginning to surround her again. Pellaeon turned his head just enough to be able to get a good look at her, frowning mildly in concern. Liryn seemed to be lost in thought, absentmindedly toying with her grip on Kiran’s leash as she stared unseeing at the wall in front of her.

“Are you alright, Governor Morastus?” Pellaeon asked, a note of genuine concern in his voice. Liryn jumped a little as she was snapped out of whatever thoughts she’d been ruminating on,  her head turning towards him fast enough for her hair to flare out around her head at the motion.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Liryn said hurriedly, shifting her weight as her hand briefly tightened around Kiran’s leash before relaxing once more. Pellaeon looked more than a little skeptical, but didn’t press the issue. A light blinked on the lift’s control panel as it slowed to a stop, the doors opening to the view of a bank of communications consoles on the other side of the hallway. Pellaeon stepped out of the lift first, taking a left to lead the way onto the bridge proper. Liryn was only a few steps behind him, coming to a stop next to him just before the command walkway.

“Well, here we are Governor, the _Chimaera’s_ bridge,” Pellaeon announced, taking one hand from behind his back to make a sweeping gesture that encompassed the view in front of them. This caught the attention of some of the technicians in the crew pit; most of them quickly turned back to their tasks, though a few of the less experienced ones did a double take at the sight of Kiran. It only took the barest hint that Pellaeon might give them a chastising look for each of them to quickly turn back to their stations. The captain let out a near-silent sigh through his nose, then turned more fully to look at Liryn. The woman was looking at Nuxena where it was framed in the viewport.

“Huh. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen Nuxena from space,” Liryn commented. She didn’t seem to be expecting a response, so Pellaeon remained silent. It wasn’t until she began looking around the bridge proper, looking over the fully-manned crew pit, and the more sparingly attended consoles on either side of their level, that Pellaeon spoke up.

“Would you like me to explain some of our systems, Governor?” he asked. His voice drew Liryn’s attention away from the nervously tense comms technician just left of them in the pit. The main source of this nervousness seemed to be that Kiran was following Liryn’s line of sight, focusing on the man as well. Now that her and the strill’s attention were on him instead, Pellaeon saw the technician beat a hasty retreat out of the pit under the guise of delivering a datapad. Pellaeon was only mildly aggravated by the behavior, and put it out of mind when Liryn answered him.

“Sure,” she said, “That sounds interesting.” Pellaeon couldn’t quite tell if she was being serious, or just politely agreeing. He was finding the woman to be particularly difficult to read, in an entirely different way than Thrawn had been initially; if it had been something even remotely similar to Thrawn’s brand of reserve, he’d at least have someplace to start. Pellaeon could only imagine how difficult Thrawn found her, and felt a pang of sympathy. The Chiss was nothing less than brilliant when it came to tactics and strategy, but Pellaeon knew he found the intricacies of human politics tedious at best, and impenetrably frustrating at worst. He knew the man would enlist him in dealing with all the political and social obligations required of a Grand Admiral if he could. So, Pellaeon began to explain the destroyer’s various systems, trying to keep it as concise and free of jargon as he could.

Liryn listened attentively as far as he could tell, and a good half-hour passed, with him stopping every now and then to answer a polite question. Once he finished a very abridged explanation of the _Chimaera’s_ engines and hyperdrive, Pellaeon glanced at his chrono. He felt his mustache bristle in surprise at the time, which had passed more quickly than had thought. It had been closer to a full hour than half of one, and Pellaeon had no doubt that Thrawn was taking a break by now.

“Ah, I believe the Grand Admiral should be available now,” he informed Liryn, who looked both relieved and a little anxious at the same time.

“Oh! Has it been that long already?” Liryn asked, watching him send a message on his comm.

“Indeed it has,” Pellaeon answered, waiting for an affirmative response from Thrawn before he tucked his comm away. “I hope I didn’t bore you too much,” he said goodnaturedly, leading Liryn off the bridge. She shook her head, keeping pace beside him.

“No, it was very interesting,” Liryn insisted and, again, Pellaeon couldn’t tell how truthful she was being. He escorted her to Thrawn’s office, pulling out his code cylinder to open the door. Everything was as it should be, the door sliding open smoothly once the cylinder’s data had been read and verified. Pellaeon briefly considered leading Liryn all the way in to Thrawn’s office, but decided against it. She’d already made it clear that, whatever this was about, she only intended to speak to Thrawn about it, and would likely end up insisting he leave anyway. Instead, Pellaeon stepped aside to let her and Kiran pass.

“Here you are, Governor. Grand Admiral Thrawn is waiting for you in his office.” Liryn nodded, taking a step forward, but paused in the open doorway to look back at him.

“Thank you for the tour, Captain,” she said, giving him a friendly smile. “Even if it did end up being just the bridge.” Pellaeon blinked in surprise at her suddenly teasing tone.

“Perhaps we can finish it another time,” he replied. Liryn smiled at him again, then walked forward so she was completely in the other hallway, the door sliding shut behind her.

* * *

 

Thrawn leaned back in his chair with a sigh, stretching his arms in front of him, then up over his head. Once he felt and heard his back give a satisfying pop, he relaxed into his seat again. After what felt like a solid month of paperwork, he was finally caught up on the backlog from his absence, as well as the standard reports from today. A glance at the chronometer on his desk told him it was mid afternoon, which was about the time he usually took a break. He stood, making a quick detour into his quarters to fix himself a cup of caf in his tiny kitchenette. By the time he got back to his desk, steaming mug in hand, there was a flashing light to indicate a message on his desktop comm unit. He pressed a button to view the message, and his eyebrows rose in surprise as he read it.

He hadn’t been expecting Liryn today, and according to the message from Pellaeon, there was some matter requiring his attention. Thrawn confirmed the request to see him, and sipped his caf as he thought. It was unlikely to be something concerning the mine itself, since the officers he’d placed there were ones he trusted to inform him of any relevant goings-on. The only other thing he could think of it possibly being was one of the crew who’d gotten clearance to take leave off-ship had done something. He pulled up the current list of crewmembers off-duty on Nuxena, scanning the short list for possible offenders. Thrawn had thought he’d screened them carefully enough, but evidently one of them had to be the troublemaker.

Thrawn had narrowed down the list to three names when a quiet chime sounded, telling him that the door between his foyer and the hall had been opened. He set aside the datapad with the list and his notes, taking another quick sip of caf, and standing as the door to his office opened.

“Good afternoon, Governor Morastus,” he greeted Liryn, coming around his desk to meet her. He was a bit surprised that Pellaeon hadn’t entered with her, like he’d been expecting.

“I’ve told you, you can just call me Liryn,” the woman frowned up at him, stopping once she’d reached him. Thrawn inclined his head to her.

“My apologies. I had assumed Captain Pellaeon was accompanying you,” he explained. That seemed to appease her, though now Liryn seemed uncharacteristically nervous, fiddling with her hold on both her jacket and Kiran’s leash. Thrawn frowned slightly in concern when she began avoiding meeting his eye, instead looking around his office.

“Would you like something to drink?” Thrawn offered, the question finally pulling her attention back to him.

“Oh. Yes, please,” Liryn replied, the question seeming to have pulled her out of whatever mood she was in, at least for the moment.

“Then please, have seat,” Thrawn indicated one of the two chairs on this side of his desk, “I’ll be right back.” Liryn nodded, and he left for his kitchenette again. This time, he brought the entire carafe back with him, along with another mug that already had some sugar spooned into it. Liryn was sitting in the offered chair, absently petting Kiran’s head while she worried her bottom lip, staring blankly at a small sculpture on his desk as she thought. She only startled a little when Thrawn crossed into her line of sight, watching him set the new mug down and fill it. He topped off his own mug before setting the carafe aside, pulling the other visitor chair closer and settling into it so he was facing Liryn.

“So,” Thrawn began, “I understand there is something you need to discuss with me?” Liryn nodded, visibly mulling something over. Thrawn took a leisurely sip of his caf, giving her time to formulate her response. It took a minute of some kind of internal debate before she spoke.

“Are you interested in me?” Liryn finally spit out, jaw set and hands clenched in the coat on her lap. Thrawn blinked in surprise, momentarily speechless as his mind tried to make the leap from ‘ _there’s something wrong on Nuxena’_ to – whatever this was. He’d evidently taken too long to respond, because now Liryn was quickly and nervously rambling through what she wanted to say.

“I just – I thought you liked me, and we kissed like _over a month ago_ , and then you never brought it up again, and I thought _‘Oh, well, things are just busy with the new contract for the mine!’,_ but we finished with that like two weeks ago, and –!” Liryn cut herself off, looking mortified at the extent to which she’d just blurted all of that out. Thrawn’s mind had finally managed to switch tracks, and he took a moment to process everything she’d just said. Meanwhile, Liryn had slid down a little in her seat, covering her face with both hands at his continued silence.

Thrawn hadn’t intended to give Liryn the impression he was snubbing or ignoring her. Those first few weeks had been hectic, most of his attention focused on finalizing the new mining contract, like Liryn had said. After that, between the paperwork and acclimatizing himself back into the day to day of life on the _Chimaera_ , it hadn’t crossed his mind to contact Liryn. That by no means meant that he’d forgotten about her, or the kiss itself; he hadn’t at all been expecting her to kiss him, and the event was still surprisingly fresh in his memory, even now. Thrawn certainly hadn’t realized that Liryn had become this distressed about the situation, as every time he’d see her, she’d seemed perfectly fine. Kiran was looking visibly distraught by the tension coming off her, glancing between them both from his seat on the floor.

“I’m so sorry, this was dumb, I’ll leave,” Liryn announced, abruptly standing to take a step towards the door.

“Wait,” Thrawn said while standing himself, wrapping one hand in a gentle grip around Liryn’s upper arm. She could have easily broken out of his loose hold, but let him stop her, though her gaze was firmly aimed at the floor in front of her.

“Really, it’s okay,” Liryn said quietly, “I obviously misunderstood –.“

“I’m sorry,” Thrawn interrupted her, and this was enough for her to look up at him in surprise. “I was not purposefully ignoring or avoiding you, and I apologize if that’s the impression I gave.” He released his grip on her arm, settling that hand on her shoulder instead to nudge her into facing him fully. Liryn blinked at him, looking surprised by his apology.

“I didn’t realize that you might interpret my distance as a lack of interest,” Thrawn continued gently, taking a step forward and closing some of the space still between them. “It seems that coming back from the dead entails more paperwork than I’d anticipated.” He said this last bit wryly with a small smile, but Liryn was too busy processing what he’d said to catch the joke.

“Oh,” Liryn said quietly, her eyes still wide. They were both startled by a sudden whine from Kiran, who had wedged himself between their legs at some point after they’d stood up. They both looked down at him, the strill looking back and clearly anxious. Liryn let out a short, relieved laugh, and Thrawn couldn’t help a soft chuckle of his own as she reached down to pet Kiran, running a soothing hand over his forehead and ears. This seemed to do the trick and Kiran visibly relaxed, his tail beginning to sweep back and forth across the floor.

“So, you really did just forget?” Liryn asked, her hand slowing to a stop on Kiran’s head. The strill was obviously not a fan of this development, pushing his head up against her palm in an attempt to elicit more attention.

“I’ve found our last private meeting quite difficult to forget, I assure you,” Thrawn answered, Liryn’s face tingeing pink at his words. “If things had not been so hectic following my return, I would have arranged another sooner.” She nodded in understanding, glancing back up at him.

“You never did answer my question,” Liryn pointed out, nervousness still underlying her otherwise calm voice. Thrawn thought for a second, tracking back through their conversation.

“It appears I did not,” he conceded, then answered, “Yes, I am interested in you.” Liryn let out the anxious breath she’d been holding, and just caught the mischievous look that crossed Thrawn’s features before he spoke again. “Are _you_ interested in _me?_ ” Her eyebrows shot up at the question before they furrowed.

“ _I’m_ the one that kissed _you!_ ” she sputtered, “Of course I’m interested!” Her face was darker now as she frowned at him indignantly, her grip on her jacket and Kiran’s leash tight in each hand.

“Only the first time,” Thrawn pointed out. In the few seconds Liryn took to try and formulate a reply, he brought his free hand up to rest on her jaw, steadying her face as he leaned down and kissed her. He felt her stiffen in surprise at first through the hand still on her shoulder, before she relaxed and kissed him back. She looked calmer once he’d pulled back.

“You can't just kiss me to win an argument,” Liryn told him, her tone light. Kiran, now that the tensions he’d been picking up on were gone, tugged at his leash, shooting them both a pitiful look. Liryn spared him a single glance before easily unclipping his leash, allowing him to wander around the room.

“There are valuable lessons to be learned from defeat,” Thrawn replied with similar levity, watching Kiran sniff the large piece of rubble that Sabine Wren had used as a canvas. “And I did win, from a certain point of view.” Liryn rolled her eyes, setting her newly freed hand on Thrawn’s chest, just below his shoulder.

“We should go on a date,” she announced confidently. Thrawn raised a brow at her.

“I’m not opposed to idea,” he said, stepping into the space Kiran had filled before so he was at less of an awkward angle, “But there isn’t a very wide selection of destinations available.”

“Well we can’t keep watching movies at my house _unchaperoned_ ,” Liryn said, jokingly scandalized. “People might start to gossip!”

“Hmm, you’re right,” Thrawn replied dryly with a small smirk, “How else would we ensure my virtue remained intact?” Liryn’s serious facade broke at that and she leaned forward, muffling her laughter against his chest. “Please, Ms. Morastus, I’m a respectable Grand Admiral, what would people say if they saw you throwing yourself at me?” The arm holding Liryn’s jacket was wedged between them, which was less than comfortable for either of them, he was sure. Thrawn ignored it and used the new grip he had around Liryn’s lower back, where his hands had naturally drifted in response to how close she’d gotten, to pull the woman more snugly against him. He ended up supporting Liryn’s full weight as she tried to regain her composure, not that she weighed all that much to begin with.

“Seriously though,” she finally said, voice slightly muffled from where her face was still pressed to his chest and fighting off a lingering giggle, “I know there’s really only two options, but it’d still be nice to just go have lunch or something.”

“I have been to the cantina exactly once,” Thrawn said, “So I will defer to your larger wealth of experience.”

“Alright,” Liryn replied, finally pulling back enough to look up at him, “The diner it is then.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I don't think it's enough to qualify for an archive warning, but I'd feel bad not giving some kind of heads up just in case:
> 
> Pellaeon jumps to some conclusions and thinks that some kind of sexual assault is happening – there isn't, and there aren't any descriptions of what he thinks might be happening, but I by no means want anybody to read this and have a bad time because they didn't know

In the weeks following Liryn’s unannounced visit to the  _ Chimaera _ , Pellaeon noticed an odd change to Thrawn’s routine. The man himself didn’t act any differently, but every few days or so he would take a shuttle down to Nuxena’s surface, usually spending at least a few hours there before returning. Thrawn hadn’t said anything to him about it, and Pellaeon didn’t ask, but the longer this new behavior continued, the more worried he became. It wasn’t uncommon for Thrawn to keep his thoughts close to his chest, and Pellaeon had no illusions about the man’s ability to take care of himself, but the Captain was becoming increasingly paranoid that something was wrong. 

Pellaeon knew this was all likely a result of Thrawn “dying” months earlier, but all the rationalizing in the galaxy couldn’t silence that insistent little voice in the back of his mind. The guilt he’d felt for not being there to help when Thrawn had been ambushed had eaten at him, even managing to linger in a less severe form after the Grand Admiral had returned. He’d been starting to feel better over the course of that first month, being able to confirm every day that Thrawn was very much alive and well, going about his usual business aboard the  _ Chimaera _ . Currently, Pellaeon was frowning down at a supply report in his office as he thought about all this. He set the datapad aside with a sigh, resigning himself to the fact that his mind refused to let go of this particular train of thought.

Whatever was happening  _ definitely  _ had something to do with the Governor. It was too much of a coincidence that this had started right after she’d showed up out of the blue, not to mention how cagey she’d been about her reason for doing so. Thrawn might not have been the best politician, but he wasn’t at all easily manipulated. On the other hand, Pellaeon couldn’t see any reason for him to have started such frequent trips of his own volition. There was a very short list of things Pellaeon knew of that could draw Thrawn away from his usual routine, much less off the  _ Chimaera _ entirely, and none of them were on Nuxena. That meant that there must be something Liryn was holding over him, though what this potential blackmail could be Pellaeon didn’t know. 

Pellaeon leaned his elbows on his desktop, resting his chin on his interlaced fingers and frowning in thought. The biggest question left was  _ why _ . What did blackmailing Thrawn achieve, if that’s what was happening? Pellaeon was fairly certain that’s what it was – that was the only conclusion he could think of that made any sense. What could she be having him do, so frequently and for hours at a time? The most surprising thing was that Thrawn hadn’t dealt with the situation already; whatever Liryn had, it must be important, and she must have a direct line to someone high in the Empire’s ranks that couldn’t be blocked. If Thrawn hadn’t managed to come up with some kind of plan by now, Pellaeon certainly wouldn’t be any help in that regard, but he was loath to just sit around and do nothing about it. 

Pellaeon activated the console built into his desk, bringing up the ship’s information database. The information about Nuxena itself had next to nothing on the inhabitants, focusing instead on the moon’s natural resources and ecology, followed by the recently updated and detailed information about the mining operation. He pulled up Liryn’s personnel profile instead; for being a Governor, and being trusted with the well-being, survival, and concealment of a high ranking Navy officer like Thrawn, the details were surprisingly sparse. There was her name, her birthdate, a list of her immediate family – there was nothing here besides the basic information you could find without having any kind of security clearance. Speaking of security clearance, Liryn didn’t seem to have  _ any _ . Even after some digging, and consulting the available ISB records, the woman had never even undergone a standard security check, as far as these records showed.

You didn’t just  _ get out of _ ISB security checks, especially if you held any sort of rank or office in the Empire. A little more research revealed no one of any particular note in her immediate or extended family, which ruled out any pulled strings there. That meant that whatever connections she had went even higher than Pellaeon had thought, possibly even to the Emperor himself, if he was being pessimistic about the situation. None of this still gave him any idea as to what it was Thrawn was doing down there for hours at a time. Liryn hadn’t seemed very malicious during the meetings he'd sat in on, or the last time he’d seen her, just before this had all started. She’d always been very polite, if a little intense in her focus on Thrawn –.

Pellaeon blinked as something in his mind clicked. At the time, he’d dismissed that small detail; Thrawn had a rather striking appearance, and most people didn’t expect to be dealing a non-human this high in the Empire’s ranks, so he'd written it off as the usual curiosity most human politicians had upon meeting the Grand Admiral. With the events of these past few weeks for context, along with the suspicions and information Pellaeon now had, it felt a lot less innocuous. Looking back on it, he didn’t know how he could have missed how obviously non-platonic Liryn’s interest in Thrawn was. Now that he was thinking about it, Thrawn had gotten a subtle sort of tension to him whenever there was a meeting with Liryn, his usual professional expression just slightly more schooled, though Pellaeon was sure no one else would have picked up on such a minute change. The conclusion that Pellaeon’s mind leapt to from all this, about what Liryn might be coercing Thrawn into, made a cold lump settle in his stomach and his jaw clench. The feeling only worsened when he remembered that Thrawn was currently on Nuxena, and had been for a few hours already. He had to fight the urge to go rushing off to the moon right then and there, any consequences be damned. He still didn’t know what Liryn had on Thrawn, and acting rashly would probably only make the situation worse.

Pellaeon ended up pacing the length of his office for a good twenty minutes. The activity did nothing to improve his mood, and it wasn’t until he was informed that Thrawn had returned that he was able to relax, though only marginally. Since Thrawn’s trips offship had started, Pellaeon had given orders that he was to be informed immediately when the Grand Admiral returned. He started for Thrawn’s office, intent on catching him there before he could become occupied by some other task. It seemed that the notification he’d received had been a few minutes late, as Thrawn was already halfway through the door when Pellaeon rounded the corner into that hallway. Thrawn must have heard the Captain coming, because he’d stopped and turned to watch Pellaeon approach.

“Grand Admiral,” Pellaeon greeted once he was close enough, coming to a stop with a curt nod.

“Captain Pellaeon,” Thrawn said mildly, nodding back and watching him with what might have been a curious expression. “I assume you have something urgent to report?” Pellaeon was suddenly at a loss on how exactly to approach such a delicate topic; he hadn’t really stopped to make a plan, just seizing the first opportunity to speak to Thrawn before his own mind could catastrophize the situation any further. As usual, Thrawn’s sharp gaze seemed to see right through him, though the man was polite enough to let Pellaeon get to his point at his own speed.

“No,” Pellaeon finally said, “Nothing that requires your immediate attention.” The most eventful thing the  _ Chimaera _ and her crew had faced in their entire stay here had been dealing with the rebels when they first arrived, without any kind of major incident since. “I was hoping to speak with you before you were needed elsewhere.” Thrawn hummed in understanding, stepping fully into the foyer leading to his office, private training room, and quarters.

“I see. Come in, Captain, we can speak in my office.” Pellaeon nodded and followed him in, making note of Thrawn’s demeanor. Just as before, he wasn’t acting strangely. The only difference Pellaeon could spot was his choice of clothing. Instead of his regular white uniform, he was dressed similarly to how he was when Pellaeon had received him and the Governor in the hangar that very first time. He was carrying the hat, scarf, and heavy jacket, leaving him in a pair of standard issue cold-weather boots and pants, as well as a very comfortable looking dark blue sweater. Thrawn stopped at the door to his quarters, motioning for Pellaeon to continue on to his office. He did, sparing a glance to watch Thrawn enter his quarters, trying to catch even the slightest hint that something might be wrong. He didn’t, frowning as he left the foyer and entered the office. 

It wasn’t much different from the last time Pellaeon had been here. The physical pieces of art were the same, unmoved from their places. The only change he could spot was in the holographic projections, which had changed from the pictures Thrawn had studied when he’d been pursuing the Rebellion before his “death”. One was what looked to be an old Mandalorian-style depiction of a strill; below and beside it, a loose and almost muddled looking painting of gentle grassy hills cut through by a river, the style one that Thrawn had explained to him before, but he’d forgotten the name of; a picture of a young human man, in the old style officer’s uniform the Empire had adopted in the transitional period from the Republic; another picture of a strikingly similar man, clearly related to the first, in a flight suit, standing with another pilot in front of a pair of TIEs. 

Pellaeon didn’t recognize either of the men, though there was something subtly familiar about them both, and couldn’t place the significance the presence of their pictures held. The stylized image of a strill had an obvious enough connection, and he thought the painting might be of someplace on Naboo. Any further contemplation was interrupted when Thrawn walked in. He’d left what he’d been carrying in his quarters, but hadn’t bothered to change his clothes. After only ever seeing him in his Grand Admiral uniform, and on one notable occasion a dress uniform, it was throwing Pellaeon off to see him dressed so casually in comparison.

“What was it you wished to speak to me about?” Thrawn asked, rounding his desk to take a seat in his chair. Pellaeon wasn’t quite sure how to start a conversation like this, so he clasped his hands behind him formally with a reserved frown.

“Grand Admiral –,” Pellaeon began, only to pause when Thrawn held up a hand.

“Please, Gilad, you may dispense with the formalities. I’m not currently on duty.” Pellaeon blinked for a moment, and realized that must be true. Thrawn held himself to a strict standard, and given the choice would never have remained out of uniform if he had been on duty. 

“Of course,” Pellaeon said, a bit of the wind taken out of his sails. Thrawn offered him one of the guest chairs and he took it.

“What seems to be troubling you, Gilad?” Thrawn asked. He’d leaned forward, resting his chin atop interlaced fingers as he seemed to look right through Pellaeon. With an internal sigh, Pellaeon realized there wasn’t any use beating around the bush, not with someone as observant as Thrawn.

“To be completely honest,” Pellaeon began, “Your frequent trips down to the moon are beginning to concern me.” He did his best not to squirm in his seat as Thrawn tilted his head ever-so-slightly, fixing Pellaeon with the intense look he got when he was presented with a new piece of an ongoing puzzle.

“What about it is making you concerned?” Thrawn wondered, genuine curiosity in his voice. There were a number of ways that question could be answered, though none of them felt quite right.

“I simply don’t understand why you’re spending so much of your free time there,” Pellaeon said, in lieu of giving an actual answer. The verbal side-step hadn’t exactly been graceful or subtle, but Thrawn didn’t press him on it – it was, after all, a reasonable observation. The  _ Chimaera _ had been in planetary orbit for extended periods before, and Thrawn had rarely spent his free time off the ship, in fact seeming to prefer it that way. 

“Governor Morastus has been requesting my company,” Thrawn replied, not offering any more explanation than that. His voice and expression didn't reveal any feeling he might have about what he’d said, and Pellaeon couldn’t help his frown. Despite the fact that Pellaeon considered himself to be something of an expert when it came it deciphering Thrawn’s moods, the other man’s current demeanor was proving difficult to decipher.

“Is that why she was here a few weeks ago?” Pellaeon asked.

“Primarily,” Thrawn began, “It was to correct a misunderstanding.” There was the barest hint of a frown on his face, and Pellaeon felt like his fears had just been all but outright confirmed. “But yes, that came up as well.” The expression was gone before he could study it further, Thrawn’s face smoothing once more as he finished speaking.

“I see,” Pellaeon said, his own expression going severe as he mulled this information over. He must have looked significantly troubled, because Thrawn let out a barely audible sigh, straightening in his seat.

“If it is bothering you so much, I will spend my free time on the  _ Chimaera _ , rather than on Nuxena,” Thrawn offered. Pellaeon blinked, staring at the other man.

“What? Really?” he asked, disbelief coloring his voice. It couldn’t be that easy, surely? Thrawn only nodded.

“Yes. It isn’t that much of an imposition,” Thrawn said. “And I do appreciate the concern, Gilad.” It took a few moments for Pellaeon to gather his thoughts. While this may have seemed like the resolution of the whole matter, he still didn’t know what Liryn was using to blackmail Thrawn. He could only assume that the man had some kind of plan already, but if Pellaeon knew Thrawn half as well as he thought he did, he probably wasn’t intending to involve anyone else in this, at least not directly. With that thought, Pellaeon stood up, his back straight.

“Please remember that if you ever need help, I am ready and willing, Thrawn,” Pellaeon told him, voice deadly serious. Trying to force the man to accept his help would be useless, Pellaeon knew. It was better to remind Thrawn that he was willing to provide his assistance, and give him time to work Pellaeon into whatever plans he already had. Thrawn seemed surprised by his sudden proclamation, his eyebrows rising of their own accord.

“I will keep that in mind,” Thrawn finally said after a few beats of silence. “Good day, Gilad.” He gave Pellaeon a polite nod, and Pellaeon returned it, taking that as his cue to leave. There had to be something he’d missed when he’d gone over Liryn’s file, and all he had to do was find it.

* * *

Pellaeon’s research gained him the exact same results as he’d gotten before, with no hint of a possibly hidden file. A few days after his and Thrawn’s conversation, he was frustrated with his lack of progress, and barely restrained himself from snapping at an innocent, if mildly incompetent, crewman over a minor mistake. At least Thrawn had kept his word; the Grand Admiral hadn’t left the  _ Chimaera _ at all in the last three days, and since Pellaeon had given the comms technicians orders to inform him of any communication from the Governor, he knew she hadn’t contacted Thrawn either. Pellaeon sighed, standing from his desk after another fruitless search. This was getting him nowhere, it was time to take a break and focus on something else for awhile.

The walk to the bridge didn’t take long. Once he got there, Pellaeon spent a good forty minutes straightening out a logistics issue that was holding up repairs on a malfunctioning turbolaser. It was important, if a little tedious, but actually getting something accomplished was enough to improve his mood. He felt safe relaxing, knowing that at least for now, Thrawn was safe on the  _ Chimaera _ . In fact, Pellaeon thought as he glanced at his chrono, Thrawn should be taking his lunch break in the next ten minutes. With the sheer amount of people there were to schedule on a star destroyer, and the necessity of certain positions being filled around the clock, it was rare that he and Pellaeon had a similar enough schedules to allow them to spend off-duty time together. Their friendship had of course persisted despite this setback, but being able to socialize without the more overt restrictions of rank was nice. Things were quiet enough that Pellaeon could afford to take his own lunch a bit early, and he decided that he would. Then a technician in the crew pit spoke up.

“Sir, Governor Morastus’ ship has arrived. The shuttle is docking in hangar bay three.” The only thing that kept Pellaeon from completely losing his composure was the fact that this was a different technician than the first time. He wasn’t quite sure what he’d have done if it had been, but he  _ was _ sure his reputation as a fair and even-tempered superior officer wouldn’t have survived it. He heard himself acknowledge the information, without feeling like he was the person speaking. He turned over command to another officer, and took the same path to hangar three as last time. The entire process felt like Pellaeon imagined an out of body experience might. He’d managed to pull himself together by the time he reached the hangar, and had some semblance of a plan. When he reached the hangar bay, the shuttle had just finished landing. Pellaeon waited patiently for the ramp to lower, and for Liryn to walk down it, Lieutenant Jarrde beside and slight ahead of her. There was no strill this time, as far as Pellaeon could see, and he nodded stiffly at the two of them once they’d reached the bottom of the ramp and stepped off.

“Governor Morastus,” Pellaeon greeted, doing his best to keep his voice neutral and polite. Liryn gave him a friendly smile, so he guessed that she hadn’t noticed anything.

“Hello, Captain Pellaeon,” she said, stopping a little past where Jarrde had taken up post at the bottom of the ramp. 

“To what do we owe this visit?” Pellaeon asked her. Her brows furrowed in a confused frown at the question. 

“Thrawn invited me up,” Liryn said, “It is Midweek, right?” She glanced at Jarrde as she said this, but the man looked confused himself.

“... Taungsday?” Jarrde offered tentatively, quickly glancing at Pellaeon, as if now he wasn’t sure what day it was either. 

“Yes, that,” Liryn said, nodding, “That’s today, right?” She’d turned back to Pellaeon instead of the Lieutenant, who sagged a little in relief at having her attention off of him. 

“Yes,” Pellaeon answered after a moment of hesitation, “Today is Taungsday.” Liryn nodded as if to herself, looking self-assured once more with this confirmation.

“Then today’s the day he told me,” Liryn said, crossing her arms. Pellaeon wasn’t sure how Thrawn could have told her anything. There hadn’t been any messages to or from Liryn through the  _ Chimaera’s _ communications systems. Then, Pellaeon nearly slapped his own forehead as he realized – of course she wouldn’t have contacted the ship to speak to Thrawn. He’d assumed that Liryn had been arranging future meetings with Thrawn in person, before he returned to the ship, but now it was obvious she had the number for Thrawn’s personal comm. Pellaeon theoretically  _ could _ monitor Thrawn’s personal comm, but he felt that was a bit much, even for the situation at hand.

“I see,” Pellaeon finally said, “Unfortunately, the Grand Admiral is busy at the moment.” He did his best to put on a believably sympathetic expression, while Liryn frowned and glanced at the thin, iridescent metal chrono on her left wrist.

“I didn’t think I was  _ that _ early,” she said, shifting her weight between her feet. “Do you have any idea when he’ll be done?” 

“I’m afraid not,” Pellaeon said, shaking his head. He was just about to suggest that Liryn come back another day (or never, preferably) when she abruptly switched gears, giving him another friendly smile.

“Well, I guess this means we get to finish my tour!” she enthused. Pellaeon wanted to decline, but in the few seconds he had before a lack of reply would seem odd, he tried and failed to come up with a convincing way to do so. The last thing he wanted to do was make Liryn suspicious, like insisting she leave would. He could have Jarrde conduct the tour, but he would doubtlessly cave and take Liryn to Thrawn the second she asked. It wasn’t his fault, of course; it’s not like Pellaeon had actually told any of the crew about the situation, nor did he plan to. So that only left him with the option to stall Liryn himself, until she (hopefully) got tired of waiting and left.

“Of course,” Pellaeon finally said, stepping a little to one side and gesturing with a hand for Liryn to walk beside him. As she did, he glanced back at Jarrde, who was still standing at attention at the foot of the shuttle ramp. “You may return to your usual duties, Lieutenant.” Jarrde gave him a brisk nod, Pellaeon just catching a glimpse of him walking back up the ramp as he turned to lead Liryn out of the hangar. Their route was nearly identical to the one Pellaeon had taken her on last time, the only difference being that they rode the lift to a different level. Pellaeon stepped off first, turning slightly to face Liryn once she'd stepped off as well.

“How would you like to see the recreation deck, Governor?”

* * *

The diversion lasted for a whopping forty-five minutes, which was honestly longer than Pellaeon had been expecting it to. He’d taken Liryn on the slowest and most circuitous path he could manage around the various amenities provided by the recreation deck, earning interested looks from a good number of the off-duty crew members there. While the entire ship had heard of Thrawn’s survival and return, it was mostly just a handful of officers and a few dozen bridge staff that had actually seen Liryn and knew who she was. So there was a fair amount of curiosity as to who the person Pellaeon was leading around was. He was sure there’d be a number of rumors circulating before the day was out, but there wasn’t much to be done about it; no matter how tight of a ship you ran, the crew would find time to chat and gossip, and rumors would inevitably spread. Pellaeon had even found that ignoring it, as long as it about things that were relatively inconsequential, led to better morale and a more loyal crew. 

For her part, Liryn was nothing if not a polite guest. Just like last time on the bridge, she listened attentively, asking prompting questions about whatever subject he was on at the moment. Though, Pellaeon could tell that toward the end, she was beginning to suspect something. She progressively got quieter, becoming more pensive the longer Pellaeon tried to drag the whole thing out. It was as Pellaeon was leading Liryn out of one of the gyms spotted around this section of the ship that she stopped suddenly in the hallway, forcing him to a halt as well to keep from leaving her behind.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Liryn asked him, her arms crossed and with a no-nonsense tone. Pellaeon instinctively bristled at the almost accusatory tinge to her words.

“Excuse me?” He replied, eyebrows raised. Pellaeon did his best to seem genuinely surprised, but he knew the jig was up.

“ _ Don’t. _ ” Liryn frowned gravely as she said this, her shoulders tensing at his attempt to brush off her question. “I  _ know _ something’s up, so what is it? What’s wrong?” She seemed worried now, her hands visibly tightening their grip on her own arms. Pellaeon matched her frown with one of his own, then glanced up and down the hallway. It was empty for now, but there was no guarantee it would stay that way. Liryn wasn’t quite whispering, but she was being quieter than she had been before, so it was unlikely that anyone in the gym or adjacent rooms could hear them. He hadn’t really intended to have this confrontation here, or in this manner, but it was out of his hands now.

“The Grand Admiral will not be seeing you,” Pellaeon finally said, voice cool and hands linked behind his back in much the same manner Thrawn was fond of using. Liryn squinted at him before letting out an aggravated huff, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, I already figured that out after you spent fifteen minutes just telling me about the holovid schedule for the viewing rooms,” she said, shifting from worried to annoyed and back in a blink. “So what happened? Why are you trying to keep me busy?” Pellaeon could feel his patience wearing thin at her insistent questioning and obviously false  _ ‘concern’ _ . 

“Grand Admiral Thrawn is a busy man, Governor Morastus,” Pellaeon answered, taking great care not to snap at the woman, “He doesn’t have time to constantly be indulging your  _ whims. _ ” Liryn blinked at that, looking taken aback. Her shoulders stiffened again, raising up a little.

“Excuse me? My  _ whims? _ ” Her voice was venomous now, and more than a little defensive. “Thrawn  _ invited  _ me up here! And if he’s busy, I don’t know why didn’t he just say so!” Liryn had abandoned the pretense of keeping this conversation private, her voice now louder than their distance from each other required and more than a little indignant. Pellaeon couldn’t help himself now; the situation was already unsalvageable at this point. Blackmail and consequences be damned, he wasn’t going to let this continue right under his nose, on his own ship no less. Thrawn could be angry at him all he liked, Pellaeon would work with him to come up with a solution now that his own plan had likely been ruined by this confrontation.

“Let me make myself clearer,” Pellaeon said, fixing Liryn with an icy glare, “You will not be seeing the Grand Admiral at all, excepting in an official capacity.” Liryn’s expression turned to surprise and she froze, blinking up at him. There was silence for a few moments, aside from the sounds of people in the surrounding rooms going about their business, the talking and socializing coming muffled through the walls. Then Liryn’s face completely shut down, her expression devoid of any emotion.

“I see,” she said, finally breaking the silence. Her voice was stony and tightly controlled, jaw visibly clenched as she brushed past Pellaeon. She moved very quickly for what was still technically walking, Pellaeon automatically moving to go after her. 

“I can see myself to the hangar just fine, thank you,” Liryn ground out, not even sparing him a glance as she did. Pellaeon stopped, watching her storm off with clenched fists swinging at her sides until she was out of view. He immediately grabbed his comm and ordered Lieutenant Jarrde to ready the shuttle for takeoff, then switched lines to tell security personnel to keep an eye on Liryn through the video feeds throughout the ship. No sense letting her go off unsupervised when she was clearly angry. Security would ensure that Liryn made it to the shuttle without any necessary detours, and inform him if she attempted to make one. 

Pellaeon knew it was only a matter of time before Thrawn found out about what had happened, and called him to his office so he could chew him out in that calmly restrained way of his. It was almost worse than if he’d decided to just yell. Pellaeon hadn’t ever actually heard Thrawn raise his voice, save for once, when he’d had to speak a little more loudly to address a crowd of upper-level officers in one of the larger conference rooms. Pellaeon shook his head sharply to clear his thoughts. Now wasn’t the time for it. He had a bridge to get back to and a ship to run. Before that though, he needed to eat something, his scheduled lunch break having started while he was busy with Liryn. He turned, making his way down the hall in the direction of the officer’s canteen.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it might be April Fools but idgaf, I’m posting the chapter >:V

Thrawn set aside the datapad he’d been reading, rolling his neck and shoulders to relieve the tension that had built there while he worked. He’d run a little over into the time allocated for his lunch break, but he hadn’t planned to start eating until Liryn arrived anyway. Speaking of the woman, she should be there any minute. She was later than Thrawn had accounted for in his planning; it was nearly fifteen minutes into his lunch hour already, and he hadn’t heard anything from her about her running late. He checked his comm as he stood, just to be sure, and found nothing.

After being confronted with Pellaeon’s anxiety regarding his frequent trips to see Liryn, Thrawn had realized just how much time he was spending on Nuxena. What kind of example was he setting for the crew, jumping ship at every opportunity for personal reasons? He held himself to a higher professional standard than that; and, as easily as he could have dismissed Pellaeon’s worries, it didn’t really bother him that much to stay on the _Chimaera_. It may have been nice to spend time with Liryn down on the moon, but it was just as easy to bring her up to the ship instead.

That had been the plan today, though it seemed things were slightly off track. Thrawn tapped a few buttons on the comm built into his desk, opening a line to the bridge. There was the briefest moment of static before the line connected and one of the crew on the bridge picked up.

“ _Chimaera_ bridge, this is Private Wran,” a voice answered, sounding a little bored.

“Private, this is Grand Admiral Thrawn. Has Governor Morastus’ shuttle arrived?” Thrawn could hear the clatter of something being dropped on the other end.

“Ah, just a moment, sir!” the voice replied, sounding much more alert as the faint sound of frantic typing just barely came through. “Yes, Grand Admiral. The Governor’s ship is docked in bay three.” Thrawn nodded to himself.

“Thank you, Private,” he said, cutting the connection and slipping his comm back into his pocket. He left his office, exiting his foyer into the main hall. It seemed everything wasn’t quite as off track as he’d thought. There must have been some hold up that had made her late; Liryn had mentioned a few days ago that some ingredients for a desert she wanted to make had finally come in. She’d sounded very excited to make it, and he wouldn’t be surprised if she’d lost track of time doing so. The idea of it struck him as very endearing, and he couldn’t help the small smile that made its way onto his face.

Thrawn stepped onto a lift, pressing the button to take him to the level bay three was on. The ride was fairly short, and soon he was stepping right back off. He started down the hall at a brisk pace, mind already focused ahead to meeting Liryn in the hangar and getting to spend lunch with her. Even distracted as he was, his reflexes were still good enough to catch the person who’d just come barreling out of a connecting corridor, and stop them from completely crashing into him. Thrawn still had to take a step back to avoid losing his balance, but the grip he’d caught around the person’s shoulders remained firm. Thrawn was completely ready to scold a crewman for running through the ship so carelessly, but his train of thought screeched to a halt when he looked down.

Instead of the junior officer or technician that Thrawn had been expecting, the person he found when he looked down was Liryn. She seemed just as surprised as he was, looking back up at him with wide, watery eyes. It was immediately obvious that she’d been crying; her face a blotchy red and eyes puffy, even as she pulled out of his slackened grip to rub furiously at her tears. Like a newly unjammed set of gears, Thrawn’s mind began turning once more, his mouth pulling into a frown as he stepped forward to close the distance between them.

“Liryn? Are you alright?” Thrawn asked, “What’s wrong?” He gently laid his hands on her shoulders, and was startled when she smacked one of them away, stepping backwards to escape the other. Liryn scowled up at him, the current state of her face only increasing the expression’s intensity.

“Oh, shut up,” she hissed at him in a voice rough and strangled with emotion, “You can drop the act. Your buddy Pellaeon already made things _perfectly clear._ ”

“It is not an act,” Thrawn said carefully, frown deepening. “What did Captain Pellaeon tell you?” He couldn’t imagine what Pellaeon could have said to cause this kind of reaction, or _why._ He’d never seen Liryn so upset. Thrawn could tell she was starting to lose some of her indignation in the face of his concern and honest confusion. She’d gotten exceptionally good at reading him, even when he wasn’t trying to make himself as transparent as possible like he was now.

“That you didn’t want to see me anymore,” Liryn said, and her voice wasn’t sounding any better. “That my ‘ _whims_ ’ were wasting your time.” Thrawn blinked in surprise at that. Why would Pellaeon say such a thing?

“Neither of those are true, I assure you,” Thrawn said firmly. This time when he stepped closer Liryn didn’t back away. “I don’t know why he would tell you that.” Liryn had crossed her arms and pressed them tightly against her own stomach, knuckles white where her hands were gripping her elbows. She was still frowning up at him, but now the expression was less angry and more searching.

“So you didn’t tell Pellaeon to stall me for nearly an hour, and then essentially tell me you were breaking up with me?” Liryn asked flatly, though it was clear that she’d calmed down a little bit from how upset she’d been.

“Absolutely not,” Thrawn said, “If I decided that I no longer wanted to spend time with you, I would tell you myself – and that certainly isn’t the case.” Liryn let out a breath Thrawn hadn’t realized she’d been holding, just looking tired now. She didn’t protest or try to move away when he reached for her this time, letting him pull her snugly against his chest. She leaned her full weight against him for a minute, resting her forehead against his shoulder and wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. Thrawn just rubbed the space between her shoulders soothingly, letting the silence of the empty corridor stretch between them.

Speaking of the corridor, it was odd that it had been this deserted for this long. There would usually have been someone passing through, if not a technician or officer, then a patrol. Thrawn glanced up at the small security camera embedded in the ceiling a few yards away. It was likely the _Chimaera’s_ head of security had noticed something was going on, and diverted any foot traffic away. Thrawn couldn’t claim that he knew Commander Icarus Alucard quite as well as he would normally like to know his head of security, but the man had proven himself to be competent and trustworthy on more than one occasion.

“I didn’t think Pellaeon hated me this much,” Liryn mumbled against his chest, pulling Thrawn’s attention back to her. “Like, I got the feeling he didn’t really know what to think of me the first time, but when I came up a couple weeks ago he seemed fine.” Thrawn patted her back a few times.

“I’m also at a loss, I’m afraid,” he replied, “Though I do intend to find out what exactly is going on.” Thrawn gave Liryn’s back a final pat, gently nudging her away. “I still have a little over half of my lunch break left, if you feel up to eating something.” Liryn nodded as she unwrapped her arms from around him.

“Yeah, I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast,” she said. Thrawn led Liryn back towards the lifts with a hand on her back, while she rubbed at the remains of the tears that were still on her face.

“We can eat in my office, if you’d prefer,” Thrawn offered after they’d stepped into the lift. Liryn nodded again, leaning against him as the lift began its journey upward.

“I’d rather not go to the canteen. I look all gross from crying,” Liryn said. She straightened up to stop leaning on him as the lift came to a halt and the doors slid open. Once again, the hallway was empty when they left the lift and began the walk to Thrawn’s office. It took no time at all for Thrawn to insert his code cylinder and open the door when they reached it, both of them stepping into the foyer while the door slid shut behind them. Thrawn stopped a few paces in, lightly placing a hand on Liryn’s back.

“Go ahead and make yourself comfortable. I’ll go get us something from the canteen,” Thrawn told her, “Is there anything in particular that you would like?” Liryn had stopped as soon as she’d noticed that he had. She leaned into his touch, shaking her head.

“No,” she said, “I’m fine with whatever you pick.”

“Alright then. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Thrawn leaned down, giving Liryn a quick peck on the top of her head. “Try not to burn my office down like you nearly did your kitchen.” She scoffed, half-heartedly shoving at his shoulder with a snort of amusement.

“That was _once_ , and it wasn’t even a fire! It was just something that had fallen in the bottom of the oven smoking,” Liryn told him, then started walking to his office door. “Now go on, before we waste any more of your lunch break.” Thrawn turned, palming the door’s control panel so he could go back into the hallway. He spared a final glance at Liryn, who was at the other end of the foyer already, doing much the same as him. She rolled her eyes when she saw him watching her, but regardless gave him a little wave as she stepped into his office. The door slid shut behind her and he took that as his cue to leave himself.

Thrawn used the time it took him to reach the lift to comm the canteen staff, giving them time to put his and Liryn’s food into portable containers he could take back to his office. He and other officers did this often enough, when there was some work that they didn’t have the time to put down, or when, in the case of the upper level officers, they just didn’t feel like dealing with a crowded canteen. The meal that the canteen was serving today was fairly similar to something Liryn had made during one of his trips to her cabin; while the limitations of life on a star destroyer meant that it might not always taste spectacular, he was at least confident she’d find it edible.

With the arrangements for their meal out of the way, that left the remaining time of the trip for Thrawn to think about the situation with Pellaeon. Whatever had made Pellaeon uncomfortable with him taking frequent trips to Nuxena was likely the same thing that had caused today's incident. Thrawn would never have expected him to do something like this, at least not without a good reason. The only problem was, he couldn't seem to figure out what that reason might be. Usually, Thrawn’s grasp of Pellaeon’s line of thought was excellent; it was part of the reason he got along so well with the man, alongside the fact that Pellaeon was professional and adaptable enough to trust and follow Thrawn’s orders without fail, even when they didn’t make sense to him in the moment.

Thrawn took a deep breath, minutely shaking his head as he reached the hallway just outside the canteen. There was nothing to do about it right now, he’d just have to talk to the man himself to get to the bottom of this. That itself could wait however, as he fully intended to spend his remaining break with Liryn. Thrawn put his thoughts aside, turning his focus outward once more as he entered the officer’s canteen.

As was usual for this time of day, the canteen was reasonably full. While it could by no means fit every officer on the ship at once, it was more than big enough to fit the few hundred on this end of the _Chimaera_ that shared the same lunch hour. Of those, around a quarter of them tended to end up eating in their office, if they had one, or in one of currently free meeting rooms. While this last part wasn’t technically allowed by regulation, as long as a mess wasn’t made, most of the command staff turned a blind eye to it. The result of all this was that the canteen almost never appeared to be more than half full.

Thrawn didn’t waste any time, heading straight for the end of the serving line as he usually did when picking up food to go. The crewmember working that end of the line saw him coming and turned around, grabbing two to-go containers on a counter behind them before turning back.

“Here you are, sir,” they said when Thrawn reached them, handing him the stacked containers. Thrawn nodded and thanked them, turning to leave. No one paid him any mind, used to Thrawn eating in his office rather than in the canteen. He reached the door, then was just barely able to avoid dropping the to-go containers. Thrawn very nearly stumbled when he sidestepped to avoid running into someone just outside the canteen door. The door automatically closed behind him, now that its sensors couldn’t detect any obstructions, leaving Thrawn and a surprised Pellaeon staring at each other. The Captain quickly regained his composure, standing straighter while Thrawn raised his eyebrows at him coolly.

“Ah, Grand Admiral, excuse me,” Pellaeon said. He seemed mildly uncomfortable in the silence when Thrawn didn’t respond. “Are you alright, sir?”

“Yes,” Thrawn said shortly. Pellaeon visibly winced at his glacial tone, his shoulders subconsciously raising. Thrawn could tell that Pellaeon knew exactly what the reason for his chilly demeanor was, and he was feeling just spiteful enough to enjoy it. The enjoyment didn’t last very long however, and Thrawn settled for narrowing his eyes at the man with a clear frown.

“I expect to see you in my office as soon as you are back on duty, Captain,” Thrawn told him, his tone leaving no room for argument. Pellaeon seemed too resigned to attempt one either way, the man only nodding with a grim expression.

“Yes, sir,” Pellaeon said obediently, failing to suppress an actual frown when he glanced at the pair of to-go containers Thrawn was holding. He stood at attention as Thrawn gave him a final look, maintaining the posture even as Thrawn turned to walk away. For his part, Thrawn couldn’t banish the frown from his expression, even after he’d turned down another hallway and reached the lift. He hadn’t realized how angry he was until he’d seen Pellaeon, despite hearing the basics of what had happened from Liryn. It wasn’t until he reached the door to his foyer that he was able to take a deep breath, releasing the tension as he let it out. He still had time in his lunch break left, and he was going to spend it focusing on making sure Liryn was alright, not on what he was going to do about Pellaeon.

* * *

 

The next twenty or so minutes were comparatively uneventful, and having something to eat and drink improved both his and Liryn’s moods dramatically. By the time they were finished, Liryn looked much better, the only remaining signs of her earlier upset a slight redness around her eyes. They’d both wordlessly agreed to avoid the proverbial elephant in the room, and while Thrawn’s office chairs certainly weren’t as comfortable as Liryn’s couch or the seating at the diner in Nuxena, it was an easy enough thing to ignore. Now that Thrawn’s lunchbreak was at an end however, and with Pellaeon’s ending soon as well, the subject had to be brought up.

“I ran into Captain Pellaeon earlier on my way to the canteen,” Thrawn said once there was a lull in their conversation. He paused for a moment, making sure that he had Liryn’s full attention. “He has orders to report to my office once he’s back on duty, which will be soon. I believe it would be best if you weren’t present, at least not initially.” Liryn didn’t look happy about that.

“I honestly don’t think whether or not I’m here is going to make a difference,” she said, “And besides, I want to find out what this is all about too. I’m the one he was straight up lying to, after all.” There was an air of finality to her words as she said this and she crossed her arms once she was done. Thrawn had quickly figured out that Liryn could be spectacularly stubborn when she thought she was right. That wasn’t to say she couldn't be reasoned with, and it had resulted in more than a few interesting debates.

None of them had been particularly serious though; most of them were a result of Liryn enjoying being contrary for the sake of it, without either of them actually having a stake in whatever the topic at hand happened to be. Thrawn would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy it, especially with how little mental exercise he got with the _Chimaera_ being assigned to just Nuxena’s small corner of the galaxy. While Thrawn would prefer to keep Liryn out of this upcoming confrontation as much as he could, he could understand her point of view, and knew the quickest solution would be a reasonable compromise.

“How about this,” Thrawn began, checking the time, “You can wait in my quarters and listen in via your comm, if you promise to stay put and not interfere.” Liryn hummed, mulling his offer over for a moment.

“Alright,” she finally agreed with a nod, “That’s fair. So, how are we doing this comm thing?” They both stood, Thrawn reaching over his desk to type Liryn’s number into the built-in comm there, making sure it was set to audio only. It started ringing, Liryn confirming the call on her end to answer it.

“Just silence the input from your comm. You should still be able to hear everything said on this end,” Thrawn told her, his words echoing out of Liryn’s comm with a split-second delay.

“Okay then,” Liryn said, her own words echoing as well, “I guess that just means showing me where your room is.” Thrawn only hummed his agreement, gathering the remains of their lunch before leading her back into the foyer. He stopped at the door to his quarters, directly opposite the one to his training room, still locked as it should be. He entered the code to unlock it, stepping in and to the side to let Liryn in after him.

“Here you are. Feel free to make yourself comfortable,” Thrawn said, watching Liryn look around. She nodded distractedly, her gaze landing back on him once she’d finished looking the room over.

“You know, if this was all some elaborate plan to get me alone in your room, it was unnecessarily complicated,” Liryn joked with a grin.

“Yes,” Thrawn agreed, his voice deadpan, “I imagine it would actually be very easy.” A hint of a smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth as Liryn saddled him with a mock glare.

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” she said, the undercurrent of amusement obvious despite her attempt at a more serious tone. Then she huffed, dropping the pretense altogether. “Well, I guess I’ll just wait in here then.” Thrawn set the empty containers in his kitchenette to be dealt with later, stopping next Liryn on his way back to the door before he left. She seemed a little antsy, but not worried like he thought she might have been.

“Everything will be fine,” Thrawn reassured her anyway, drawing Liryn into a loose embrace. She sighed and relaxed into it, winding her arms around his waist and giving him a gentle squeeze back. They stayed like that for a few minutes, before Liryn unwrapped her arms and gave him a light push towards the door.

“Well, go on. Can’t talk to Pellaeon in your office if you aren’t actually _in_ your office,” she said, grumbling good-naturedly when Thrawn tugged her close one more time to place a kiss on her cheek.

“I don’t think this will take very long,” Thrawn assured Liryn, releasing her and pulling away. He left his quarters, walking the short distance back to his office and settling into his chair to wait. If he was remembering Pellaeon’s current schedule correctly, his lunch would be ending right about now. It would take him maybe five minutes to reach Thrawn’s office from the canteen, ten if he was really dragging his feet. Thrawn picked up his datapad, glancing over the last thing he’d been working on while he waited.

Pellaeon was punctual as ever, a polite knock on the door alerting Thrawn to his arrival. Thrawn glanced away from the datapad to the still closed door.

“Enter,” Thrawn said, loud enough to be heard through the door. He made a show of continuing to look over his datapad as the door opened and Pellaeon strode in, coming to a stop in front of Thrawn’s desk with his shoulders squared and arms linked behind him.

“Grand Admiral,” Pellaeon greeted with a nod.

“Captain,” Thrawn replied, finally setting his datapad aside. He leveled his full attention on Pellaeon and it was a testament to the Captain’s experience that he didn’t squirm or flinch, as others would, and have in the past. He didn’t jump to his own defense either, remaining silent now as he waited for Thrawn to continue.

“I assume you know why you are here?” Thrawn asked. He leaned forward enough to rest his elbows on his desk, lacing his fingers together in front of him as he stared unblinking at Pellaeon. Thrawn kept his face completely calm and devoid of emotion, but Pellaeon already knew he was angry at him from their interaction in the hall.

“Yes,” Pellaeon answered, giving a short nod with a similarly schooled expression.

“Then you realize that I require an explanation for your behavior with Governor Morastus.” The inflection in Thrawn’s voice hadn’t changed at all, but his words still managed to come off as frigid. A muscle twitched on Pellaeon’s face, then he took a deep breath, releasing it in a soft sigh.

“I know I’ve likely put you in a less than ideal situation with the Governor,” Pellaeon began, “And I do apologize. But I could hardly allow such a situation to continue, and practically under my nose no less.” He did seem regretful, a sympathetic frown overtaking his features, but there was also a steely resolve there, as if he was convinced he’d done the right thing. Thrawn carefully turned over what Pellaeon said, narrowing his eyes as he thought.

“To what situation are you referring, Captain?” Thrawn asked after a moment's pause and Pellaeon looked uncomfortable now. Thrawn just continued to stare him down, his gaze expectant.

“I was under the impression that you didn’t wish to speak of it,” Pellaeon said nervously, his next words all spilling out in a quick jumble. “I realize you probably had some kind of plan in place already, but I couldn’t stand the idea of you being forced into doing things of such a nature, and I understand why you were trying to deal with it on your own, but–” He abruptly cut himself off when Thrawn raised a hand, snapping his mouth shut as he settled back on his heels with a concerned frown. Thrawn blinked as he processed everything Pellaeon had just said, brow furrowing.

“Captain Pellaeon,” Thrawn said, the tiniest bit of incredulity creeping into his voice, “What, exactly, do you think the nature of my relationship with Governor Morastus is? ” Pellaeon took another breath, seemingly steeling himself for something unpleasant.

“I know that the Governor is coercing you into–” he hesitated for a moment, then bluntly forged on, “Into sexual situations.” Pellaeon looked intensely uncomfortable with the whole conversation. Thrawn felt his eyebrows raise in surprise, and he knew the expression was plain on his face. Of all the things he’d thought Pellaeon might say, that certainly hadn’t been one of them. Before he could formulate a response, he heard a shouted ‘ _What!_ ’ from Liryn, muffled by the barrier of the wall.

Thrawn barely resisted the impulse to sigh and rub a hand over his face as Pellaeon whirled around, scanning the corner of the room that shared a wall with Thrawn's quarters. There was a faint noise outside the door, then it was sliding open to reveal Liryn, her expression some combination of surprised and indignant.

“What!” she repeated, thankfully less loudly this time. “I don’t– how could you– _what?_ ” Pellaeon had visibly stiffened the moment he’d seen Liryn and, though Thrawn could only see his back at the moment, a frown was clear in his voice when he spoke.

“You heard me,” Pellaeon told her, “I don't know what it is you’re using to blackmail Thrawn, but you won’t be getting away with it any longer.” Liryn visibly bristled at that, Pellaeon’s shoulders squaring in response. Thrawn knew it was only going to escalate from here if he didn’t intervene. He loudly cleared his throat, drawing both Liryn and Pellaeon’s attention away from each other and back to him.

“Captain, I called you here to speak with _me,_ not to argue with the Governor,” Thrawn told the man calmly, then he turned his gaze to Liryn. “I thought we had agreed that you wouldn’t become involved, Liryn?” She crossed her arms, frowning.

“Yeah, I know, but did you really expect me to not get involved _now_ , with what he thinks is going on?” Liryn argued, freeing one arm to gesture with an almost flailing motion to Pellaeon as she spoke, before returning it to the fold once she was done. For his part, Pellaeon was looking between them, seeming suspicious and more than a little bit confused by their exchange. Thrawn did sigh now, looking back to Pellaeon.

“Your concern is appreciated, Captain, but I can assure you that nothing so nefarious is at work here,” Thrawn informed him, leaning back in his chair. “So this is why you asked me to stop making trips to the moon, then?”  Pellaeon nodded stiffly, eyeing Liryn as she came forward and practically threw herself into one of the two guest chairs with a huff.

“Then what _is_ going on?” Pellaeon asked, glancing between Thrawn and Liryn. He clearly wasn't convinced yet, based on how tense he still was and how he was keeping Liryn in his line of sight, even as Thrawn gestured for him to take the other seat available.

“Hey, uh, I’ve got a quick question, if you don’t mind,” Liryn cut in before Thrawn could answer, voice sardonic as she gave Pellaeon a flat, disbelieving look. “What the hell made you jump to the _worst_ possible conclusion, and then not actually check to make sure that your assumption wasn’t _completely wrong_ ? Y’know, like it _is?_ ” Thrawn gave her a flat look of his own, while Pellaeon glared at her with a severe frown.

“Liryn,” Thrawn said, the exasperation in his voice making Liryn huff again. She slumped in her seat, her tightly crossed arms loosening slightly.

“I’m sorry that I take issue with _some people_ thinking I’m some kind of _rapist_ ,” she muttered and gave Pellaeon a pointed look, but didn’t belabor the point further. Thrawn eyed her for a moment more, waiting for another interruption. When none came and Liryn only raised her eyebrows at his continued silence, he turned his attention back to Pellaeon.

“The reason I have been taking frequent trips to Nuxena, Captain, is because the Governor and I are in a relationship,” Thrawn told him, “Which, incidentally, is why she came aboard today. Since you had asked that I stay aboard the _Chimaera_ , due to what I had thought were security concerns, I decided to invite Liryn to lunch here instead.” Pellaeon looked like he’d been blindsided, blinking at Thrawn with wide, uncomprehending eyes. He was quiet, the process of whatever mental revelation he was coming to visible in his slowly changing expression.

“... Did you break him?” Liryn asked after Pellaeon had been quiet and unmoving for a few minutes, glancing over at Thrawn. She’d leaned forward to rest her elbow on the edge of Thrawn’s desk, propping her chin up on the palm of her hand while she waited for Pellaeon to respond.

“Captain?” Thrawn asked, still watching him.

“Oh,” Pellaeon said, finally. Now that all the pieces of the puzzle had been arranged for him, the conclusion he’d reached before seemed obviously wrong. He’d never seen Thrawn show any kind of romantic interest in _anyone_ , and Pellaeon had been unable to recognize it now without any prior point of reference. Just seeing Thrawn and Liryn’s more casual interaction right now was enough to convince him that they were being truthful. Then he thought back to his and Liryn’s confrontation earlier.

“ _Oh dear,_ ” Pellaeon said now, his voice barely above a whisper and mildly horrified.

“Mhmm,” Liryn hummed, still leaning on the desk. Pellaeon turned his head toward her, the rest of his body stiff and upright in the chair.

“Governor Morastus, I believe I owe you an apology,” Pellaeon said, his face the picture of remorse, “I’m sorry for assuming the worst of you.” Liryn eyed him, one corner of her mouth pulled into something that wasn’t quite a frown as she did. After a minute, she shrugged and leaned back to sit properly in her chair again.

“Alright, apology accepted,” Liryn said, “You might have jumped the gun a little, but I guess I understand why you were being such a jerk, with what you thought was going on.” She said this matter of fact, without any kind of malicious undertone evident. With that dealt with, Pellaeon faced forward to look at Thrawn.

“Grand Admiral, I’d like to apologize to you as well.” Pellaeon frowned when Thrawn shook his head in response.

“I appreciate the sentiment, Captain, but that isn’t necessary,” Thrawn told him, “I am simply glad this misunderstanding has been resolved.” After he said this, Thrawn paused to raise his eyebrows at Pellaeon, giving the man a flat look. “Though in the future, I would suggest clarifying assumptions of this nature with me, before allowing them to escalate to this degree.” Pellaeon nodded curtly, looking a little embarrassed.

“Yes, of course Grand Admiral,” he said, straightening in his seat impossibly more. Thrawn seemed satisfied with that response, rising from his seat calmly.

“In that case, I believe we are done here,” Thrawn announced, rounding the desk to reach Pellaeon and Liryn. Pellaeon had stood only a split second after Thrawn had, though Liryn was a little slower, which left Thrawn standing to her right while he waited for her.

“I will escort Governor Morastus back to her shuttle,” Thrawn said once Liryn was standing, “You may return to your usual duties, Captain.” Pellaeon nodded, following Thrawn as he and Liryn led the way out of the office. He found himself automatically looking for some evidence of their relationship, using his position to study both of them uninterrupted. There wasn’t any that he could see,in the minute or so it took them to reach the main hallway. They might have been walking slightly closer than was strictly necessary, but that by itself wasn’t really that telling. He should have expected as much, at least from Thrawn; Pellaeon knew the man to be exceptionally professional, even in the face of the most unsettling of circumstances.

The walk to the nearest lifts was short and silent,, though Pellaeon suspected he was the one still feeling the most uncomfortable. None of the lifts were on their level when they arrived, which left Thrawn to call one to take him and Liryn down to the hangar bay, Pellaeon calling another to take him up to the bridge. While they waited, Pellaeon glanced over at the duo. Thrawn was waiting patiently for the lift and Liryn had pulled out her comm, fiddling with something on it.

“I really am sorry, Governor,” Pellaeon said, just to break the silence.

“Huh?” Liryn looked up from her comm, blinking for a few seconds while she processed what he’d said. “Oh, dude, I told you, it’s fine,” she insisted, “Water under the bridge.” Pellaeon frowned at that, still feeling like he hadn’t done enough to make up for the misunderstanding.

“Yes, but that’s still no excuse for how I behaved,” Pellaeon replied. Liryn let out a short sigh, propping her free hand on her hip.

“Look, I don’t know what to tell you,” Liryn said, “I’m not gonna unforgive you just so you can mentally justify beating yourself up over it or whatever.” She fixed him with an unimpressed look. “What, do you want me to punch you in revenge or something? Would that help?”

Pellaeon’s eyebrows rose in surprise, and he glanced at Thrawn for some kind of hint as to how he should respond to this. Thrawn was already watching him from over Liryn’s head, looking back at him with a expression that clearly said ‘ _You got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out._ ’ Since Thrawn evidently wasn’t going to be of any help, that just left Pellaeon to look back down at Liryn and flounder for a response. She was staring at him expectantly, waiting for him to say something.

“No, thank you,” Pellaeon finally managed to reply. Liryn nodded, satisfied, and dropped her arm from its pose while turning back to her comm.

“Okay, good,” she said, “But just so you know – I forgive you this time, but the next time you pull something like this?” She paused for dramatic effect, looking at him from the corner of her eye. “I _am_ going to punch you.” Liryn said this in such a way that Pellaeon couldn’t tell if she was being serious or just joking, letting it hang in the air as the sound of the approaching lifts grew louder. Thrawn’s face was back to its usual neutral expression, giving Pellaeon no clues as to which it could be.

“Noted,” Pellaeon said. Moments later the lifts arrived, the doors sliding open with a soft pneumatic hiss. Thrawn gave Pellaeon one last nod before he stepped into the lift, a hand between Liryn’s shoulders gently nudging her in ahead of him. Pellaeon returned the nod, boarding his own lift and pressing the button that would take him to the bridge. He slumped against the wall of the lift once the doors had closed, letting out a tired sigh.

He still had yet to fully processed what he’d learned in the last half an hour. It had definitely been a relief to find out that he’d been wrong about what was going on between Thrawn and Liryn, even if it instead meant feeling awful about jumping to conclusions and treating Liryn the way he had. He arrived at the bridge, only halfway listening to the short report on what had happened while he was away. There wasn’t much, which was the same as it was most days since they’d arrived at Nuxena. At least the lack of activity would give him time to think over what he now knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would just like to note that I use a Star Wars name generator for all my OC names, and Icarus Alucard is 100% a name that was generated  
> It's so ridiculous how could I NOT use it?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the first half of this chapter is actually the entire reason I started this fic, before it got off-track and ran into drama land :V  
> like for real this was supposed to be a one-shot of them having a kind-of date and instead I got this

“So I’ve been meaning to ask,” Liryn started, turning in her seat to look at the excised section of wall with Sabine Wren’s art on it. “Why do you have a chunk of concrete in your office?”

Just like Thrawn's personal quarters and training room, his office had remained pristine and untouched. That meant that along with his collection of digital copies, the physical art he’d most recently collected to study and understand Hera Syndulla and her crew was still on display in his office. Thrawn was sure the Emperor was just biding his time, waiting for what he deemed the right moment to pull Thrawn back into the fight against the Rebellion, so he hadn’t bothered to put any of it into storage.

“It’s duracrete, actually,” Thrawn informed Liryn, studying the piece in question himself now. “It was part of a wall from an Imperial garrison on Lothal.” She rolled her eyes at him from where she was sitting sideways in her seat, one arm still draped over the backrest, where she’d rested it when she was looking at the wall.

“You know what I meant,” Liryn huffed in exasperation, rearranging herself to face forward in the chair again. “ _Fine,_ why do you have a chunk of _duracrete wall_ in your office?” Liryn’s tone might have conveyed annoyance, but her expression made it clear that she was much more curious than she was aggravated. She’d propped both elbows on the desk now, one hand up to support her chin as she leaned forward. The pose reminded him of the incident that had occurred nearly a week ago, Liryn having done something similar during the meeting with Pellaeon. She was using her free hand to fiddle with a stray piece of flimsi; he had no idea where she’d have gotten it, since all the files and notes in his office were digital, so he could only imagine she’d brought it with her.

“Before I was injured and sent to Nuxena to recover, I was given the task of dealing with a rebel cell on Lothal,” Thrawn explained, watching her manage to roughly fold the flimsi into some yet-unidentifiable shape with interest. “One of the rebels in that cell, Sabine Wren, painted this. I had the garrison remove this section of wall so I could study it.” Liryn made a polite noise of interest, looking up from her project.

“Huh. So is that what all this other stuff is too?” She gestured vaguely behind her, paper in hand, indicating the other pieces displayed around the room. “Art made by rebels?”

“No,” Thrawn replied, “There are only two other physical items that pertain to that particular cell, and neither were created by the rebels.” He leaned forward himself and rested his chin on interlaced fingers, realizing that the topic of his work for the Empire, and by extension his method of analyzing art to better understand his opponents, had never come up. Not in any real depth, at least.

In fact, this was the first time they’d been in Thrawn’s office without some other concern drawing their attention elsewhere. Most of their time had been spent on the moon, with Liryn carefully avoiding any topics that might relate too directly to the injuries that had landed him on Nuxena in the first place. This in turn meant his work from that same period of time didn’t get brought up either. Thrawn usually wouldn’t appreciate what he would consider to be coddling, but he was finding it hard to take issue with the treatment when it was coming from Liryn. It certainly helped that he knew her well enough now to understand that it was less a matter of her believing he couldn’t handle any mention of what had happened, and more Liryn letting him choose whether or not to he wanted to bring it up himself.

Thrawn was pulled from his thoughts when Liryn twisted in her seat again, more closely examining the other items in the room the best she could without getting up. She’d abandoned her flimsi on the desk and was paying the battered clone trooper helmet, displayed in its alcove on the other side of the room, particular attention.

“Really?” Liryn asked, “Which ones?” Thrawn allowed himself a small smile, watching Liryn’s attention shift to each of the other displays in turn. Once she finished looking over the last one, she turned back to him again with an expectant expression. “Are you going to tell me, or do I have to guess?” Thrawn made a show of tilting his head and humming contemplatively, though he didn’t actually have any intention of making her do so. He finally relented when Liryn flicked her tiny creation at him, letting out a short, quiet laugh as it bounced harmlessly off one of his wrists.

“They are both here on my desk,” Thrawn told her as he straightened, amusement clear in his voice. He picked up the folded flimsi to examine it, while Liryn’s attention waffled between the Jedi Temple Guard mask and the Syndulla clan Kalikori; it was difficult to say with how haphazardly the sheet had been folded, something of a given since he had watched Liryn do it with only one hand, but Thrawn could make out that it was some kind of quadruped. He put it aside for later, carefully setting it upright next to the holoprojector built into his desk. When he turned his focus back to Liryn, she’d settled on the mask, glancing at Thrawn once she realized he was watching her.

“So I have no idea what that is,” she said, pointing at the Kalikori, “But this is some Jedi thing, right?” Thrawn felt his surprise show on his face before he smoothed his expression once more, though his eyebrows refused to cooperate, remaining slightly raised.

He honestly hadn’t expected Liryn to recognize the origin of the mask. Even among the senior officers and other personnel who’d been adults during the Clone Wars, most would be hard pressed to recognize anything as being Jedi related unless it was a lit lightsaber. Not to mention the further you traveled from the Core, the more likely it was for the Jedi to be viewed as myth, and the “Force” they’d espoused relegated to superstition.

“Yes,” Thrawn said after the few seconds it had taken for all of this to cross his mind, “It is. Though I am curious as to how you recognized it.” Liryn seemed surprised by the question.

“I don’t know,” she answered with a shrug, “It just _looks_ like it’s a Jedi thing, you know? Like the design and stuff, it’s got that vibe.” Her explanation wasn’t exactly making it any clearer, but Thrawn didn’t bother trying to get a more concise answer, since that was the best he was probably going to get at the moment. “So how is this related to the rebels? I thought all the Jedi got hunted down after that whole failed coup thing?”

“Most of them did,” Thrawn agreed. “However, a small number of them remain unaccounted for.” Liryn was listening attentively, shifting her gaze back to the mask when Thrawn nodded to indicate it. “This is a Temple Guard mask, worn by the those who were in charge of the security for the temple on Coruscant. One of the rebels, a Jedi by the name of Kanan Jarrus, wore it for a short time.”

“Huh. Okay,” Liryn said, turning back to him and pointing at the Kalikori. “So what about that?” Like every other piece in his possession, the Kalikori was treated with care whenever Thrawn examined it, but that couldn’t fix the nicks and scratches it already had. It was certainly in better shape than the mask on the other end of his desk, but the damage was still noticeable enough irk Thrawn whenever he looked at it.

“It is a Kalikori,” Thrawn explained, “A Twi’lek heirloom, passed down a family lineage from parent to child. Specifically, this is the Syndulla clan Kalikori, belonging to Hera Syndulla, the leader of the same rebel cell Kanan Jarrus is a part of.” Liryn hummed, tilting her head slightly while she looked over the Kalikori.

“So what did you mean, you study them?” Liryn finally asked after a few moments of silent contemplation, “Were the rebels using them for like, secret messages or something? Is this thing gonna pop open like a puzzle box if I turn one of these parts the right way?” She was clearly joking with this last bit, and Thrawn’s mouth quirked into another small grin.

“I’m afraid not, no,” he answered, prompting Liryn to let out an overdramatic gasp of surprise.

“ _What?_ You mean the holofilm industry _lied to me?_ ” she announced incredulously, a hand held to her chest in mock shock, then sighed theatrically, “What is the galaxy coming to?” Liryn was back to leaning her forearms on the edge of his desk now. “Anyway, what _is_ the actual point of studying them?”

“I’ve found studying the art of a culture useful in developing an understanding of their tactics and beliefs. This is true for individuals as well.” Thrawn paused to look over the Kalikori again himself. “Understanding your opponent and anticipating their next move is vital to defeating them, after all.”

“Hmm,” Liryn hummed, not sounding very convinced.

“You disagree?” Thrawn asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

“It’s not that I _disagree_ , like you can probably figure that kind of thing out from studying all this,” Liryn replied, waving a hand, “I’ve just never been one for analyzing every single little thing when it comes to art. Sometimes a bird is just a bird, you know?” She gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Plus, I’ve always been more of a proponent of aestheticism, personally.” Thrawn considered that for a moment, concluding that it wasn’t actually that surprising of a view for Liryn to have, from what he knew of her. While she was more than willing to debate unimportant things in good humor, she was rarely one to bring up anything that could be considered a sensitive topic, or start anything like an actual argument. When he finally returned from his thoughts, Liryn was sitting patiently and watching him.

“You kinda spaced out for a second there,” she said, “You good?” Though it was phrased casually, there was a mild undercurrent of concern to Liryn’s words.

“Yes,” Thrawn said, “I’m fine.” He’d noticed that he tended to get lost in thought more easily when spending time alone with Liryn. It was likely a combination of not having to maintain his usual air of authority around her, and Liryn’s generally informal demeanor. Thrawn glanced at his long-empty mug; he’d had an earlier than usual start today, which in turn had meant an earlier end to his shift, but also the opportunity for him and Liryn to have lunch without the time limit imposed by Thrawn returning to work. “Perhaps I am simply in need of more caf. Would you like some?” Liryn sighed, looking at the chrono on her wrist.

“I would, but I probably need to get going,” she said with a regretful frown, “Kiran’s definitely getting antsy by now, and you need to get back to work anyway, right?” She was already standing and picking up her jacket from its spot on the other guest chair.

“I’m actually finished with my shift for the day,” Thrawn told her, and Liryn stopped in the middle of pulling her jacket on to blink at him.

“Really?” Liryn said, “I thought you usually worked later than this?”

“I usually do, yes,” Thrawn told her.

“Huh,” Liryn replied, finishing pulling on her jacket, “So you’re all done for the day?” She waited for him to nod before continuing. “Why don’t you come down with me then? You can stay for dinner. And no offense, but my house is a bit more comfortable than your office.” Liryn gave the guest chairs a not-so-subtle glance. Thrawn hadn’t thought about what he would do with his freed afternoon yet – spending it on Nuxena with Liryn certainly didn’t sound like a bad option.

“Alright,” Thrawn decided, standing and walking out of his office with Liryn at his side. “I’ll change and grab my jacket, and then we can leave.”

 

* * *

 

The way Kiran rushed Liryn when they entered her cabin wasn’t surprising. What _was_ surprising was that once Liryn had acknowledged Kiran and moved further into the cabin, the strill leapt on Thrawn with equal enthusiasm. Kiran hadn’t ever been standoffish with him exactly, but it was always clear that he was primarily attached to and concerned with Liryn more than anyone else. As a result, Thrawn wasn’t quite sure how to respond to a sudden armful of happy strill, Kiran having reared up and braced his front and middle sets of legs against Thrawn in an attempt to reach his face and lick it. You could really appreciate just how long the strill was when stretched out like this, something that wasn’t very obvious when he was walking around normally. Thrawn heard a snort of laughter, glancing over Kiran’s shoulder while he held the strill at bay to see Liryn, trying and failing to muffle her laughter with a hand over her mouth.

“I’m sorry,” she said when she’d managed to take a full breath, “I’ve just never seen him do that to someone else instead of me.”

“He is certainly more friendly than when I saw him last,” Thrawn said, craning his neck to keep his face out of reach of Kiran’s long snout. Liryn got her giggles mostly under control and walked back to them, gently unhooking Kiran’s middle set of feet from Thrawn’s jacket.

“Down, Kiran,” she ordered, still sounding amused. The strill stopped straining forward at that, allowing his middle feet to be dislodged but keeping the front set securely in place. “Down,” Liryn repeated with a bit more authority, and Kiran let himself be lowered completely back to the floor. He stood there, looking at Thrawn expectantly while glancing at Liryn every so often, his tail whipping back and forth behind him. It wasn’t clear what exactly the strill wanted, and Liryn shrugged when Thrawn looked to her for some direction, at a similar loss herself. Kiran just continued to stare at him, tongue lolling happily.

For lack of any clue as to what Kiran might be expecting, Thrawn offered his hand to the strill, like Liryn had done when they’d arrived. This was apparently what Kiran had been waiting for, because he pushed his face into Thrawn’s palm, only stopping once Thrawn’s hand was on top of his head and scratching at his ears. He was a bit put out when Thrawn eventually took back his hand, but the mood didn’t last for long. A few seconds later Kiran was slipping past Thrawn to reach the front door, shifting from foot to foot and staring at Liryn. She rolled her eyes at his antics, but nonetheless came forward to open the door for the strill.

“Alright, but you better not make me come drag you back inside later,” Liryn told him before she opened the door. She and Thrawn both watched him run out and immediately leap into the pile of snow that had been made as a result of clearing a path to the front door. “And now I’m gonna have to dry you off,” Liryn sighed. She shut the door, blocking out the icy breeze that had been blowing in, and turned to Thrawn.

“So,” Liryn started, pulling off her thick jacket and hanging it on the coat rack, “We’ve got plenty of time before dinner. What do you want to do?” Thrawn followed suit, shrugging his own jacket off as he thought.

“Perhaps a holo?” he offered, “Though I wouldn’t want you to fall asleep like last time.” Liryn snorted at that, lightly elbowing him as she passed him to watch Kiran from the window.

“Ha ha, very funny,” she said, “but I think that’s my line. Didn’t you say you needed some caf?” Outside, Kiran had pulled himself out of the large pile of snow, though he was so thoroughly covered in it now that the strill underneath was barely visible. His snowy figure went galloping out of sight to the left when Thrawn came back to join Liryn, looking like some kind of strill-shaped snowman come to life.

“I take it this is normal?” he asked her, and Liryn nodded.

“Yep, just wait for it,” she told him, turning halfway around to watch the door in the kitchen instead. There was the muffled _thump_ of something impacting and sliding across the deck, then an odd chirping bark that Thrawn assumed was Kiran. “There it is,” Liryn said, walking to the kitchen. She disappeared around the corner toward the bathroom, coming back a few moments later with an armful of towels.

“Hold this?” she asked when Thrawn came up behind her, holding out one of the towels to him. He took it from her and she spread another on the kitchen floor directly in front of the door, still holding a third and final towel. There was an impatient whine from the other side of the door, and once Liryn finally opened it Kiran rushed in. He stopped in his tracks when she threw the towel she was holding over his head, the strill pausing just before he’d reached the edge of the floor towel. In spite of all this Kiran’s tail was wagging incredibly quickly, sending small bits of snow flying around the kitchen.

“Stay still,” Liryn said with a huff, already rubbing down Kiran’s head, moving on to the strill’s back once his face was clean. Obediently, Kiran stayed as still as he could, save for the way his body was slightly swaying with the motion of his tail. The towel that Liryn was using was quickly soaked, absorbing the slushy mixture that Kiran’s coating of snow was melting into. She set that towel aside, keeping Kiran in place with one hand and holding out the other for towel she’d given to Thrawn. He handed it back to her and Liryn made short work of rubbing down Kiran’s tail and legs. She dropped it with the first one when she was finished, giving the strill a pat on his back as she stood.

That was all the opportunity Kiran needed, wiggling past Thrawn and out of the kitchen as soon as Liryn’s hand had pulled back. She lumped all three towels together in one wet bundle, brushing past Thrawn to take them back into the bathroom. The sound of Kiran flopping on the floor in front of the fireplace was audible, even over the noise of Liryn throwing the towels into her washing machine and starting it. Thrawn walked just far enough out of the kitchen to see fully into the living room. Kiran was sprawled on his back on the rug, exactly where Thrawn had predicted he’d be, and didn’t seem to care that the fireplace was currently cold and empty. Not that Liryn’s cabin was anywhere near being cold; though the fireplace was fully-functional, it was not the primary means of heating for the cabin, and it was comfortably cozy inside. Thrawn heard Liryn come up behind him, looking down when she leaned against him to watch Kiran too.

“You said something about a holo?” she asked him, glancing up. They both looked down when Kiran let out an abrupt huff, squirming back and forth while still on his back.

“Yes,” Thrawn answered after a moment, “Unless you had other plans?” Liryn shook her head, already walking to the couch and flopping down onto it. Kiran jolted at the sound, his head whipping around to look at Liryn, and then Thrawn.

“Nope,” Liryn said, leaning over to tug off her boots, “A holo sounds fine. You’re picking though.” Thrawn hummed noncommittally, settling down beside her and removing his own boots. He was done before Liryn, whose laces had somehow managed to tangle and knot, so he grabbed the remote for the holoprojector and started looking through the available titles. Kiran had relaxed again and seemed to be ignoring them, all six legs splayed out around him, his furry underbelly rising and falling as he breathed. On the couch beside Thrawn, Liryn made a triumphant sound as she finally untangled her laces. She proceeded to kick her boots away, then resituated until she was pressed as completely against Thrawn’s side as she could physically be. He felt her squirm a bit more before finally settling with an arm thrown over his middle, evidently deeming herself suitably comfortable now.

“So what are we watching?” Liryn asked, her cheek smushed up against his chest now that Thrawn had lowered his arm and let it curl around her shoulders. He’d held it up before to accommodate Liryn arranging herself, and the additional weight pressed her more securely against him.

“You do realize I don’t know anything about the majority of these holos?” Thrawn said. Though he couldn’t see most of Liryn’s face, it was fairly clear she was rolling her eyes when she let out a soft huff in response.

“Yeah, that’s why you’re picking,” she told him, “ _Because_ you haven’t seen most of them. Just pick something at random if you have to.” Liryn seemed perfectly fine with waiting while Thrawn scrolled through the available holos again. He did end up picking something at random, starting the holo after confirming with Liryn that she hadn’t seen it. The opening credits began to roll, and Thrawn relaxed further into the couch.

A little more than thirty minutes later, it was clear that choosing completely at random might not have been the best choice. The holo wasn’t bad, necessarily, so much as it was bland and uninteresting. It had started promisingly enough, but things had quickly derailed, leading the main character off into a completely different (and decidedly more boring) direction than they’d started. Thrawn had to keep stifling the urge to shift impatiently in his seat, mostly to avoid disturbing Liryn. She was still leaning against him, and was more engaged in the holo than he was, as far as Thrawn could tell. He felt he was understandably surprised when she suddenly made a frustrated sound, and looked up at him with a small frown.

“Okay, I know I made you pick, and that I said to pick at random,” Liryn began, “But this movie is… mediocre at best.” The way she said this made it clear she was trying to break the news gently. Thrawn just blinked down at her for a few seconds, the movie playing on in the background.

“I agree,” he said, “I thought you were enjoying it, so I didn’t say anything.” Liryn stared at him in surprise, stunned into silence. Then she was laughing, squeezing with the arm she still had wrapped around him.

“Oh, man, I’m glad it wasn’t just me!” She took a deep breath, getting out the last of her laughter. “And you were gonna sit through a holo this awful just because you thought I liked it? _Dude_.” Liryn unwedged the arm not draped over him to put a hand to her chest with a grin. Thrawn returned it with a smile of his own.

“Well now that we’ve confirmed that neither of us is actually invested in it, we can stop watching.” Instead of the enthusiastic relief he might have expected in response to that, Liryn looked conflicted.

“Don’t get me wrong,” she said, “I really _don’t_ want to keep watching this holo, but we’ve already sunken half an hour into this thing. It feels like if we stop now, _they win._ ” Thrawn tilted his head as he looked down at her.

“Who is ‘they’, exactly?” he asked in honest confusion.

“Whatever holo-industry people looked this over before releasing it and and thought ‘ _yeah, this totally isn’t the most uninteresting holo ever, it wasn’t a complete waste of money_ **_at all_ ** ’,” Liryn said, pausing to stare at his incredulous expression for a minute before breaking into giggles again. “I’m sorry, but you just make _really good_ faces.”

“I can’t say that I’ve been told that before,” Thrawn replied, his face relaxing back into its usual expression once more.

“Can’t imagine why,” Liryn said, leaning up just enough to prop her chin on his shoulder and give him a cheeky grin. In the background the holo had moved on to a fight scene, which might have been entertaining if every punch wasn’t so obviously fake and the entire scene so badly choreographed. Liryn made an exaggerated pained noise at the badly mixed stock sound effects. “Ugh, it’s not even bad in a fun way,” she complained while hiding her face in the fabric of Thrawn’s sweater.

“And you want keep watching?” he asked, prompting her to sigh and tighten her grip on him.

“No, but I don’t really want to get up and go do something else either,” she said, turning her head so she could look at him again, “I’m kind of enjoying just sitting around cuddling.” Liryn emphasized her statement with a wiggle that lightly bumped her knee against Thrawn’s and pressing her cheek to his shoulder.

“No one said we had to get up and go do something else,” Thrawn said. Liryn hummed in thought while she considered this.

“I suppose you’re right,” she finally said after a moment, “Though the ‘doing something else’ part sounds good, now that I think about it.” Thrawn raised a brow expectantly when she didn’t elaborate further.

“I already picked a holo like you asked, I believe it’s your turn to provide an activity,” he told her, and she gave a quiet laugh.

“Alright, yeah, fair enough,” Liryn said, “Plus, I’m not sure I trust you with picking activities after _this_ incident.” Her tone was gently teasing, and Thrawn raised both eyebrows now in a mock expression of offense. He was just opening his mouth to reply when Liryn shifted and leaned forward to kiss him. What had started as words became a soft noise muffled by the kiss, not that Thrawn was making any attempt to get out of it. The angle was a bit awkward, his neck already starting to protest, but he ignored it and focused on tilting his head so he could press his mouth more firmly against Liryn’s.

“Hold on,” Liryn said after a few minutes, pulling back just enough to speak. She brought up one leg and tucked it underneath her, giving her leverage to turn and push herself further up in her seat. Then she draped both arms over Thrawn’s shoulders, leaning back in to kiss him again. Thrawn’s hands settled at her waist and lower back as she did, keeping her close while he angled in his seat to face her more fully. They ended up practically chest to chest and with a better angle that his neck thanked them for. Thrawn rubbed a hand up and down her back, tightening the arm around her waist at the same time so that the motion pressed them closer together. Liryn made a pleased sound into the kiss, threading a hand into his hair in reply.

Then Thrawn jolted in surprise when a cold, wet _something_ nudged the back of his hand. He and Liryn both pulled back, turning to look at the space in front of the couch; Kiran stood there, tail wagging and not looking the least bit remorseful. Behind him the holo played on, the plot just as incomprehensible now as it had been before.

“Kiran,” Liryn sighed, sounding more than a little out of breath, “Go.” The strill immediately gave them the most pathetic look he could manage, and with another sigh Liryn reached out and rubbed a hand over the top of Kiran’s head. “ _Go,_ ” she repeated more firmly, and he returned to his previous spot in front of the fireplace, looking only a little let down. Once Kiran was laying down again, Liryn slumped against Thrawn, resting her forehead on his shoulder with a soft huff.

“What’s wrong?” Thrawn asked. He waited patiently while Liryn took a deep breath, letting it all out in one big exhale that tickled his neck.

“It’s just that we’re always doing something when we’re together, or we’re up on the _Chimaera_ like earlier,” she began, “We never spend any time actually _alone_ , and now when we _are_ Kiran has to involve himself like he does with _everything._ ” She sounded more frustrated than actually angry or upset, and when Thrawn ran his hand soothingly over her back she relaxed into the touch. He considered what she’d said for a moment.

“We have spent time together alone in my office,” Thrawn offered, and Liryn lifted her head to give him an exasperated look.

“Yeah, but even then you’re still in work mode, or whatever you want to call it,” she countered, “Plus, the seating options in your office aren’t exactly conducive to making out, or anything else for that matter.” She leaned in until they were nearly nose to nose and raised her eyebrows, as if in example and daring him to disagree all at once.

“That is true,” Thrawn conceded, “Why didn’t you say anything, if it was bothering you?” Liryn had leaned back by now, at least enough so that she wasn’t so completely in his space, and one corner of her mouth quirked into something that wasn’t quite a smile or frown.

“I’ve gotten a pretty good at it, especially compared to when you first got here, but you are still _ridiculously_ hard to read,” she told him. “And I didn’t want to be pushy, since I don’t know anything about Chiss culture.” Thrawn blinked in surprise; _he_ hadn’t pushed for more from her for much the same reason. Though it wasn’t so much a lack of familiarity with human culture, and rather with the expectations a human would have of a relationship. There’d never been any reason for him to look into it before now, and given that Eli was currently in the Ascendency, his usual source for this kind of interpersonal question was gone. Liryn was watching him, waiting for some kind of response.

“I see,” he said. Before she could say anything, Thrawn stood in one smooth motion, scooping Liryn up at the same time.

“Woah!” Liryn clung more tightly to his shoulders now, startled by the sudden change in altitude. “What’s happening?”

“I’m attempting to make myself more easily read,” Thrawn told her, adjusting his grip and then walking toward her bedroom, “And ensuring that Kiran will not involve himself again.” The strill in question watched them curiously as they left the living room and rounded the corner into the kitchen.

“What?” Liryn asked, sounding confused, and then realization dawned on her face. “Oh! Okay.” She unhooked one arm from around his shoulders to open her bedroom door when they reached it, and Thrawn carried her in, kicking the door shut behind them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so HEADS UP, this chapter is literally just a pwp that picks up right where chapter 5 left off  
> there's nothing that could be considered "plot" in here, so proceed at your own risk :V

Liryn’s bedroom door slammed shut, and Thrawn paused halfway to the bed when Liryn wound a hand in his hair, pulling his face down to hers so she could distract him with another kiss. This one was more aggressive than the two on the couch had been, with Liryn’s hot mouth demandingly moving against his. Thrawn was further distracted when she gently tugged the hand in his hair while nipping his lower lip at the same time, and he groaned an appreciative noise. It took what felt like forever, but was likely only a minute or so, for him to gather his thoughts and close the rest of the distance to the bed. The kiss ended when he rested a knee on it, Thrawn pulling back to focus on maintaining his balance. While his initial plan had been to set Liryn down and get some space for a moment, she seemed intent on keeping him as close as possible. When he tried to pull back after laying her on the bed, she hooked an ankle around his leg, unbalancing him enough to take him with her when she laid down fully.

“Hey,” Liryn said, looking very pleased with herself as she grinned up at him. Thrawn had ended up propped up on his forearms to avoid crushing her, not that she seemed to be very concerned with that possibility. There was a pleasant flush to her cheeks, and her hair was splayed attractively around her head. He found his eyes drawn to the slight redness of her lips, before he was blinking the distraction away and meeting her eyes once more.

“Yes?” Thrawn asked. He felt her use the arm around his shoulders to pull herself up, and was ready this time when she kissed him. Liryn’s nails lightly dragged over the back of his neck as she sighed into it, and the combination of stimuli sent a pleasant shiver down his spine. After a few minutes of this, Thrawn used the leverage he had in this position to pull away and move his attention to Liryn’s neck, kissing down her jaw while occasionally stopping to gently nip the sensitive skin he found there.

Liryn’s breath hitched and she squirmed with every bite, just shy of making an actual noise each time. She gasped when he landed one right below her ear, and Thrawn felt satisfaction pool in his gut at the sound. Though one of Liryn’s hands was still loosely tangled in his hair, the other had drifted down to his back and wormed its way under the material of his sweater. When he mouthed at the same spot again, her short nails dragged down his back, making the skin across his back tingle even through the material of his undershirt. 

“Thrawn,” Liryn sighed when he did it again, her grip in his hair tightening before she let go completely. Thrawn pulled back at that to look down at her. There was a noticeable flush to her cheeks now, as well as very faint red marks up and down her neck, and she was staring back up at him with an expression that he could only describe as predatory. Liryn pushed herself up so she was sitting, forcing Thrawn to lean back to avoid bumping their heads together. She grabbed a handful of his sweater at the shoulder and pulled him into an intense kiss, coaxing his mouth open and leaving him breathless. She scooted up the bed until her back was propped against the pillows, pulling Thrawn along with her while somehow managing to avoid breaking contact. Then she abruptly pushed him, switching their positions so he was leaning back on the pillows and headboard instead of her. 

“Alright?” Liryn asked, settling herself into Thrawn’s lap and getting comfortable while he blinked, his eyebrows raised in surprise at the sudden change in position. He’d know Liryn was a bit stronger than she looked, but he hadn’t expected her to be able to pull off that kind of flip.

“Yes,” he replied after catching his breath, his hands coming to rest on her thighs. Liryn smiled at him, running her hands from his shoulders down his chest as she leaned in to give him a quick kiss. Then she was grabbing the hem of his sweater, pulling it up and over his head once he raised his arms to accommodate the motion. She tossed it behind her, unconcerned with where it might land, already busy pulling off her own long-sleeved overshirt. Unlike Thrawn, who’d kept his standard black tank top on when he’d changed from his uniform tunic to the sweater, Liryn was only wearing a plain black sports bra. She freed her head and arms from her shirt and sent it in the same direction as his sweater, her ashen hair messily draped over one shoulder. Thrawn knew his own hair hadn’t fared much better, and he brushed back what had fallen into his eyes.

Liryn’s hands ran down his chest as she kissed him again, though she drew things out this time, slipping both hands under his shirt to rub teasingly over his waist and stomach while her mouth moved against his. Now it was Thrawn’s turn to squirm, gripping Liryn’s hips to pull her closer, as she alternated between pushing his tank top up further and skimming her palms lightly over the skin just above the hem of his pants. He arched and shivered when she got it up far enough to bare his chest, moaning into the kiss when Liryn firmly circled the pad of her thumb over a nipple. Thrawn ran his own hands appreciatively over Liryn’s waist and stomach, making her almost purr and repeat the small motion, eliciting another muffled moan from him. She soon had him panting, his fingers squeezing their grip on her waist every time she circled her thumb over the hardened nub.

Thrawn broke the kiss to catch his breath, acutely aware of the heat of a blush on his face and chest, and Liryn took this opportunity to finish removing his now bunched up tank top, which she threw behind her in what was quickly becoming a running theme. Now that he was completely bare from the waist up, Liryn braced one hand on Thrawn’s shoulder, burying the other in his hair again. She used the grip to ease his head to one side, giving her room to mouth down his neck. He let her pull at his hair to arrange him, the measured pressure sending a pleasant tingle over his scalp, until her hand slid away as she moved further down. Liryn paused in the path she’d been kissing down his chest to breath hotly over the nipple she’d neglected before, making him squirm and his breath hitch briefly where it had started to even out. 

“Liryn,” Thrawn breathed, his voice roughened with arousal. She looked up at him through her eyelashes, blowing a cool gust of air this time and making him shiver. He gasped as she licked over his nipple with the flat of her tongue, shuddering when she closed her teeth over it very carefully and gently tugged. It took a conscious effort to prevent his nails from digging into her back at the jolt of sensation, but he still let out a soft disappointed sigh as she moved on to mouth teasingly over his stomach.

When Thrawn impatiently pulled her back up and into another kiss a few minutes later, Liryn was sporting a satisfied smirk, and she obliging shuffled closer when he urged her forward. Then she let out a stuttering groan into his mouth when he arched his hips up into hers, gripping his shoulders and moving down to match the motion as much as she could with Thrawn holding her hips still. The pressure through their clothes wasn’t enough, teasingly shy of any real relief, and Thrawn relinquished his hold on Liryn’s hips to hook his thumbs under the bottom edge of her bra, ending the kiss to pull it over her head. With her newfound freedom of movement, Liryn immediately shifted her hips down and over his lap, grinding onto his hard length through the material of both their pants with a shivery sigh. Thrawn bit back a moan at the sensation, abandoning Liryn’s bra now that it was off and palming one of her breasts instead, taking his time appreciating the even softer skin she had there.

Liryn seemed torn between leaning into his touch or away from it, squirming against him and biting her lip as he gently rolled her nipple under his thumb. He switched his attention to her other breast when the hand braced on his stomach twitched, Liryn’s nails digging in ever-so-slightly, and repeated the same process. She was panting when he stopped, opening her eyes from where they’d slipped closed, her pupils dilated and nearly swallowing the gray-blue of her iris. Liryn pulled Thrawn into a breathless kiss with a hand at his jaw, the other slipping further down to fiddle with button on his pants. He did the same, stroking the bare skin just above Liryn’s hip with a thumb while unbuttoning and unzipping her pants with his other hand. 

Thrawn managed to finish his task first, and he pushed Liryn’s pants down just enough to slip his hands in, running them over the bare skin of her upper thighs. He felt her muscles tense at his touch before relaxing, goosebumps raising on her skin wherever his hands roamed. Then Liryn pulled back, using his shoulder to steady herself as she wiggled out of the clothing, kicking it and her socks off the bed, and leaving her in just a pair of dark purple underwear. She was much more focused now when she returned to Thrawn’s own fastenings, deftly undoing them and reaching in to massage him through the thin barrier of his underwear. He moaned lowly as Liryn gently squeezed him, rubbing slowly up the underside of his length with the heel of her palm. The attention was entirely too short-lived for his taste, and he couldn’t stop the disappointed noise he made when she pulled her hand back. He lifted his hips obediently when she tugged at his waistband, pulling his pants and underwear down and off at the same time.

Thrawn’s cock eagerly jumped free of its confines, resting on his hip and flushed a pale purple at the head. Liryn threw the last of his clothes on the pile they’d made, but only crawled part-way back up the bed. She paused to run her hands up his thighs, her touch skating frustratingly close to his cock as she traced a path over his hips and stomach. 

“Liryn,” Thrawn moaned at the maddening touch just shy of where he needed it, his hips canting up pleadingly.

“Yes?” she asked him, already settled on her knees between his legs, and he felt his cock twitch at the sight. She let her hand barely glance the head on its return path, and Thrawn shuddered at the sensation, hands clenched in the bedspread. He groaned when she pressed a kiss to his stomach, where he could feel the heat of her face and breath so close and yet so far.

“ _ Please, _ ” he moaned, and that seemed to be exactly what Liryn had been waiting for. Thrawn sucked in a sharp breath when she finally took him in hand, rubbing a thumb over the head with a gentle squeeze. He let out a breathy moan when she licked up the underside, prevented from arching into the sensation by a forearm thrown over his stomach.

“ _ Ah, _ ” Thrawn sighed when Liryn ran the flat of her tongue over the head, leaving a wet stripe that cooled quickly as her breath ghosted over it. His legs fell open of their own accord when she repeated the motion, her pace torturously slow. Then she popped it into her mouth, slowly pumping the rest of his cock in a tight fist as she sucked and laved her tongue lazily over him. Pleasure curled in his stomach at every stroke, and Thrawn lost track of time as he tried not to cum. At some point his head had tipped back, and when she finally pulled off he blinked his eyes open, more than a little dazed. He lifted his head to see Liryn climbing back into his lap, and he grabbed her by the waist, kissing her hungrily when she leaned against him. She hummed approvingly when he slid his hands down to grab her ass, pulling her flush against him and gently kneading the flesh through the thin barrier of her underwear. 

Liryn pushed him back with a hand on his chest, and Thrawn watched intently as she slid off her underwear, freeing one leg and then kicking it off the other. She balanced herself on his thighs and braced both hands on his shoulders as he leaned back into her space, letting out a breathy sigh as he kissed over her shoulder. Then Liryn moaned in surprise when he reached down, rubbing two fingers over her folds, and Thrawn felt a rush of arousal at how wet she was. She pressed down on his hand when his thumb briefly rubbed her clit, and she shuddered as his fingers slipped inside. He bit at the junction of her shoulder and neck, teasing out a shaky moan when he stroked her from the inside. She groaned and circled her hips as he found just the right spot, shivering as he firmly massaged it and sucked at her neck. Thrawn was well on his way to giving her a sizable hickey when Liryn weakly pushed at his chest, and he pulled back, his fingers slipping out of her. 

She was breathing heavily, wearing a more intense version of her predatory look from before, and Thrawn’s cock twitched at being the sole focus of that hungry gaze. Liryn scooted forward until she was poised over him, and he settled a hand at her hip and thigh to keep her steady. She reached down, grabbing his cock and teasingly rubbing the head between her folds. They both shivered at the act, Liryn’s grip on him briefly squeezing while he resisted the urge to buck his hips. Her other hand was back on his jaw, and drew him into a kiss as she finally sank down onto him. Thrawn let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding when he bottomed out, his grip on Liryn’s hips tightening for a moment at the feeling of her tight heat around him. Her hand moved to his shoulder, using it as leverage to lift herself up and sink back down, the resulting friction dizzying. 

Thrawn groaned, grabbing the underside of her thighs to help lift her, and arching up into her when she came back down. They quickly fell into a rhythm, Liryn moaning into their kiss whenever Thrawn angled his hips up, his cock at just the right angle to rub over her g-spot every time she sank down on him. It didn’t take very long for her hips to begin stuttering out of sync, and she broke the kiss with a strained groan.

“T-thrawn,” she stuttered between moans, “I’m almost –!” She cut herself off, biting her lip and trying to match his rhythm again, her brow furrowing with the effort. The sound of Liryn’s voice, breathy and strained, went straight to Thrawn’s cock and he shuddered, biting back a moan of his own. He leaned back, resting most of his weight on his shoulders against the headboard, and held Liryn in place, thrusting up roughly into her at as steady a pace as he could manage. Liryn groaned at the first thrust, her fingers digging almost painfully into Thrawn’s shoulders as her back arched, her mouth falling open in pleasure. She practically fell forward, resting her forehead on his chest and letting out a gasping moan each time he pushed into her. 

“ _ Thrawn, _ ” Liryn moaned soon after, shuddering and clenching around him as she came. Thrawn hissed at the sudden vise grip around him, tilting his head back and groaning as his hips stuttered. Liryn’s muscles were still squeezing and twitching around his cock, and he only lasted a few more thrusts before he came with a drawn out, panting moan. 

They both sat there, bonelessly wrapped around each other and breathing heavily, for more than a few minutes. Liryn had turned her head, resting her cheek against Thrawn’s chest and leaning all of her weight against him. Thrawn had wrapped his arms around Liryn’s waist, holding her close and staring at the ceiling as he waited for his breath and pounding heartbeat to even out. Liryn recovered first, shifting her weight to her knees and gingerly beginning to raise herself off of him. Thrawn hissed at the stimulation as he slid out of her, still sensitive enough that it was almost painful in its intensity. She wiggled out of his grasp, giving him a quick kiss when he lifted his head up.

“Be right back,” she mumbled, then she was sliding off the bed, wobbling for a moment before getting her balance. She left the room, and he heard the bathroom door open a second after the bedroom door closed. A few minutes later she was back with a towel, pushing Kiran away when he tried to follow her in, and closed the door again behind her. Liryn flopped down next to him on the bed, handing it to him. Thrawn used it to clean himself up, moving out of the way so that Liryn could pull back the covers. She laid down with a tired sigh, and shortly afterwards Thrawn slid in beside her. He wrapped an arm around her, tugging her to his chest. Liryn rolled over and Thrawn settled on his back with her draped over him, her face buried in his neck. Her breathing quickly evened out, and Thrawn felt sleep pulling at his own eyes. After a quick glance at the clock on her nightstand, he pulled the covers further up to cover his and Liryn’s shoulders, then let himself relax and drift asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well here we are, the last chapter! This is as far as I had planned for this fic.
> 
> This chapter is just a small bonus thing set during chapter 2 and 3.

The security office on the  _ Chimaera _ was the same as on any other star destroyer, filled with consoles and monitoring systems, its entrance one of the few doors lining the hallway leading to the bridge. While constant vigilance was difficult to maintain when the ship had been as good as docked for over a month now, Lieutenant Towan Reidia really was doing his best not to nod off at his station. Someone behind him pushed their chair back and stood, the sound jolting Towan out of the doze he’d fallen into. He blinked rapidly, straightening in his seat and looking around as casually as he could to see if anyone had noticed.

Everyone else was too busy with their own work to pay him any mind, which was a relief. A second glance told him that Commander Alucard had stepped back into his office for one reason or another, meaning that it was safe to assume he wouldn’t be getting dressed down for slacking, at least not in the immediate future. Towan took a deep breath, letting it all out in a relieved sigh. He quickly glanced over the screen in front of him, scanning for anything amiss. The normal flow of crew through the  _ Chimaera’s _ hallways greeted him, the same as it had been the last time he’d looked. There were of course corridors that were less frequently used, but the section of the ship he was tasked with monitoring currently was almost always busy.

Now that he was sure nothing was wrong, Towan had to stifle a yawn. His assigned section for the day might be bustling with activity, but that didn’t change the fact that it was nearing the end of his shift and constantly scanning for something out of place was mentally exhausting. His eyes were just threatening to slip shut again when the chirp of a comm sounded behind him, making him jolt fully upright once more. It seems he wasn’t the only one that was startled, the techs on either side of him glancing up as well to find the source of the sound. Commander Alucard was back, standing in front of the door to his office and answering his commlink. The man was wearing his usual dour expression as he listened to whoever was on the other end, and gave a quiet reply before hanging up.

“Lieutenant Manten.” A few stations down, Talina Manten somehow straightened even further in her seat, her shoulders tensed as she looked back.

“Sir?” she responded, her face and tone both professionally blank. Towan knew that despite her composure, Lieutenant Manten was a little uneasy around the Commander. A lot of the crew was, though Towan supposed that could be something of a benefit for the head of security on a star destroyer. At the very least, the majority of the security and communications staff had gotten used to it, and didn’t let it affect their work.

“Captain Pellaeon has informed me the Governor is on her way back to bay three,” Alucard said in that distinct way of his, his cadence always bordering on melodramatic. “Clear a path for her and ensure she doesn’t stray from it.” Manten nodded sharply with a crisp ‘ _ yes sir _ ’, twisting back around in her seat to do so while Alucard shifted his gaze over the rest of the room. “Anyone in charge of an affected sector is to assist Lieutenant Manten.” There was a small chorus this time in response, then the sound of typing and quiet conversation as people coordinated with each other. The Commander remained standing where he was, splitting his attention between monitoring the activity and consulting a datapad. 

Towan tried to focus on his own screen again, but this was the most interesting thing to happen since they’d arrived at Nuxena. Not to mention it was highly unusual, as far as he knew; if some official needed to be escorted securely, the standard procedure was a few stormtroopers and an officer. Putting the whole security office on alert seemed a bit like overkill to him. Towan was resisting the urge to lean over and peek at his neighbors console, who he knew was covering the area just outside bay three, when the man in question cleared his throat nervously.

“Ah, Commander?” he said, waiting for Alucard’s full attention, “It seems the Grand Admiral is also on his way to bay three.” Alucard frowned and strode over, leaning in slightly to get a better look at the screen. Grand Admiral Thrawn was indeed heading in that direction, Towan saw when he gave in and leaned over a bit,  and was stepping off the lift onto the appropriate level right as Towan looked. Alucard narrowed his eyes at the image on screen, sparing a quick glance at Manten’s console, which Towan assumed was following the Governor. The techs at the stations behind them were turned in their seats now, craning their necks to get a look at what was going on since the Commander’s back was to them.

“Sir?” Towan’s neighbor prompted when Alucard still hadn’t answered. Past him, Towan saw Manten jolt in surprise.

“Commander –,” she started, then immediately snapped her mouth shut at whatever had just happened on screen. Towan’s gaze turned back to his neighbor’s console. On it, the Grand Admiral had walked into an intersection, the Governor hurtling down the perpendicular hallway and slamming face-first into him. Thankfully, Thrawn had managed to grab her and keep either of them from toppling over. It was difficult to tell on the small screen without zooming in, but the Governor looked upset, stepping back to rub at her eyes. At this angle, Thrawn’s back was to the camera, but some of the other security personnel audibly gasped when the Governor smacked away the hand he’d laid on her shoulder.

“Sir?” Towan’s neighbor repeated, quiet and shocked. The Governor’s mouth moved without sound as she scowled at Thrawn, and Towan cursed the fact that microphones weren’t part of standard hallway security camera installation.

“Does anyone read lips?” Commander Alucard asked, his eyes locked on the screen and head tilted.

“Reidia does, sir!” someone said, and Towan nearly fell off his chair when Alucard grabbed his backrest with both hands, dragging it up next to his neighbor’s so he could see the console directly. He very adamantly did  _ not _ let out a surprised squeak at the sudden action.

“Lieutenant?” Commander Alucard prompted, leaning down between Towan and the other tech to more closely watch the screen, making Towan swallow nervously at the sudden proximity.

“Uh,” he stalled, blinking and focusing on the Governor’s mouth, “I think she mentioned Captain Pellaeon?” Her arms were crossed now, and she looked a bit less upset as Thrawn took a cautious step closer. “She just mentioned the Captain again, and  _ ‘all’  _ or maybe  _ ‘call’ _ – something about an hour?” She’d paused, and though it was obvious Thrawn was saying something now, Towan couldn’t see anything except the back of the Grand Admiral’s head. The Governor let out a deep breath and Thrawn reached for her again, pulling her closer when she made no move to resist.

“Did you catch anything else earlier?” Alucard asked, and Towan shot him a quick apologetic look.

“No, sorry sir,” he said, nearly jumping in surprise when he turned back to find Thrawn looking over his shoulder and directly at the security camera. He knew he wasn’t the only one startled when the sound of multiple knees hitting the undersides of consoles echoed through the security office. It almost seemed like Thrawn was looking  _ through _ the camera and directly at him, personally. Towan didn’t want to know what the effect was like in person. Next to him, Commander Alucard hummed lowly, straightening when Thrawn and the Governor walked back to the lift together. All eyes turned to him when he cleared his throat pointedly.

“I don’t think I have to remind you that discussing what you see on the security feeds is an enormous breach of security,” he said, casting an expectant gaze over all of them. 

“No sir!” almost everyone affirmed, those who were standing snapping to attention. He cast one last measuring look over them, before he landed on Towan. 

“I expect a full report by the end of your shift, Lieutenant Reidia.” Towan’s fingers dug into the bottom of his seat, pushing his shoulders back further.

“Yes sir!” he answered. Alucard nodded to himself in satisfaction, sweeping out of the room and back into his office.

“As you were,” he threw over his shoulder. The tension in the room relaxed a little, and people immediately began quietly chattering once his office door closed behind him. Towan let out a tired sigh, pulling out a datapad. He needed to finish it before the end of his shift, after all.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *tries to write more of Whale of a Tale, writes more smut instead*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nothing really too out there, there’s some pegging and VERY mild dom/sub stuff in here, so enter at your own risk if that’s not something you’re into

“ _ Oh _ ,” Liryn sighed breathily, “Yeah, right there.” The fingers of her right hand, wound tightly in the longest part of Thrawn’s hair, pulled gently at his scalp, urging him closer between her legs. A small tremor went through the arm holding her up when he licked into her again, her head tipping back as her breath hitched on a word that never quite made it out. So Thrawn did it again, and again, and again, until Liryn had been forced onto her back by the overwhelming amount of sensation, and the foot of the leg draped over his shoulder was digging into his back. He stopped then, pressing a gentle kiss against Liryn’s folds as he watched her chest rise and fall in shuddering breaths, not able to see much besides her bare stomach and breasts from this angle. “Thrawn,” Liryn whined, tugging on his hair again.

“Liryn,” he replied lightly, tightening his grip on her thighs to keep her from squirming down against him; he’d only just barely pulled back far enough to speak, and his lips brushed against her as he did. “Look at me,” Thrawn instructed with another kiss, pulling back when she tried to use the foot she had planted on the edge of the bed to arch into him instead. It took a moment for Liryn to process what he'd said, but then she was pulling an arm back beneath her, pushing herself up on her elbow again so she could meet his eyes. Thrawn kept his eyes on hers as he flattened his tongue firmly against her and licked again, pulling her open with his thumbs at the same time.

Liryn’s eyes tried to flutter shut, but she managed to keep them open, groaning as she watched him intently with a hooded gaze. Her chest and neck were flushed pink, the color creeping up her cheeks as Thrawn kept going. The hand on his head had shifted to running gentle fingers through his hair instead of pulling, stilling frequently as Liryn lost focus, before starting up again. Then Thrawn switched to covering her with his mouth, sucking and lapping at her clit in turns, and Liryn’s mouth dropped open completely as she let out a high pitched moan. 

“ _ Thrawn _ ,” she keened, the muscles in her thighs taut under his hands. “ _ Ah _ , Thrawn!” He let her hand slide to the back of his head and pull him closer, supporting her legs and holding them open as Liryn shuddered and ground down onto his mouth. Thrawn sucked harder, licked faster, watching Liryn’s face contort in pleasure the entire time even as her eyes slipped shut. She managed to crack them open to look at him again after a minute, but it was only a few moments later that her head fell back and she arched hard, hips jerking in Thrawn’s grip and her entire body shuddering in orgasm. Thrawn slowed his attentions to steady, firm licks again as she cried out and rocked against him.

“F-fuck,  _ Thrawn, _ ” Liryn moaned, limbs shaking when he didn’t stop, drawing out her orgasm with the continuous stimulation. She took a gasping breath with every lick, letting it out in a strained moan each time, until it finally got to be too much and she weakly pushed at his forehead. Thrawn stopped, pressing a kiss to the thigh over his shoulder and then resting his cheek there, watching Liryn catch her breath. She opened her eyes after a few minutes, her expression pleasantly dazed as she looked down her body at him. 

“C’mere,” she mumbled, cupping the side of his head in her palm and gently tugging him closer. Thrawn carefully moved her leg off his shoulder, guiding it to the floor before he leaned over Liryn. Supporting himself with an elbow, he leaned in close, letting her pull him into a slow kiss. He was hyper aware of Liryn’s other hand sliding down over his ribs and hip before it slipped between them, making him groan into her mouth when she stroked his hard cock in a tight fist. 

“That felt  _ amazing, _ ” she practically purred, thumb rubbing a sensitive spot at the corner of Thrawn’s jaw as she continued to work her hand over him, “You did such a good job for me.” He felt himself harden further at that, hips rocking forward a bit more forcefully into her grip. Thrawn wouldn’t have said he was a particularly submissive person, either before or after meeting Liryn, but about half the time things naturally progressed in that direction when they had sex; the extent of it had really just been him relaxing and letting Liryn do basically whatever she wanted, but she never seemed very interested in really testing the boundaries of what he’d allow. She was also very fond of giving him praise, especially once they’d both figured out just how much he liked receiving it. 

“So, how do you want to cum?” Liryn said in a rough voice, leaning up to nip gently at the shell of his ear. Between the rhythmic, squeezing pull of Liryn’s hand and the weight of her full focus on him, it took Thrawn a moment to gather his thoughts and actually think beyond what he was feeling in the immediate moment. 

“Inside you, if you not still too sensitive?” he finally answered, forcing himself to stop thrusting into Liryn’s fist.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, releasing him and pushing herself further up the bed, Thrawn following close after her. She arranged herself on the pillows and hooked a leg over his hip, pulling him in towards her. “Alright,” Liryn told him, rubbing a hand up his arm to his shoulder, resting it on the side of his neck. Thrawn sat on his heels between her legs, his hips nearly flush with hers, and ran his hands appreciatively up the outside of her thighs. Liryn made a soft, pleased noise when he let them continue up to her chest, palms rubbing up over her nipples and then back down the same way. She pushed her chest up into the contact, arching and stretching her arms above her head before bringing them back down to grip the pillows she was propped up against. Thrawn settled one hand on her hip, the other guiding his cock as he slowly pushed into her.

Thrawn couldn’t help but hiss at how tight Liryn was, but she was so wet that he slid right in without a problem. He paused once he’d bottomed out, watching Liryn’s face as she adjusted. For a moment they stayed like that, Thrawn taking even, steadying breaths as Liryn twitched around him. After a shiver and a deep breath she nodded up at him, and he braced a hand on the headboard as he pulled out most of the way, then snapped his hips forward. Liryn gasped when he did, legs clamping down around him; Thrawn moaned, hitching her leg higher on his hip before he started moving again. His grip on the headboard tightened as he forced himself to go slowly rather than just thrusting into Liryn with abandon, even as his attention flitted between her face when she gasped and the perfect view he had of his cock disappearing into her. 

He could already tell he wasn’t going to last very long, but he still closed his eyes in an attempt to concentrate and prolong it a little. Liryn’s hands suddenly slid over his shoulders, and he felt her legs lock together behind his back.

“C’mon,” Liryn said, her voice soft and breathy as she leaned up to speak directly into his ear, “Don’t hold back, I want you to fuck me.” She slid a hand into his hair and mouthed at his neck and jaw, humming a pleased sound when Thrawn’s rhythm faltered and he slammed into her with a moan. It was an effort to resume the pace he’d set, and he probably would have be able to keep it up for longer than he did, but Liryn was determined to distract him, dragging her nails over his scalp while she nipped and kissed the sensitive skin just below his jaw.

“You’re sure?” Thrawn asked her, after something that was less nip and more bite sent a pleasant jolt down his spine, drawing a surprised moan from him.

“Yes, that’s why I told you to,” Liryn said, pressing a soothing kiss to the spot she’d just bitten. That was all the assurance Thrawn needed to start roughly thrusting into her, hearing and feeling her sigh happily into his neck. He could feel himself getting rapidly closer by the second, and the way Liryn was clenching around him whenever he pulled back was only speeding things along even more. 

It only took a few more thrusts before he was cumming, shuddering and gasping a moan into Liryn’s shoulder. She petted his mussed hair through it until he’d caught his breath enough to push himself back up, carefully extricating himself from her grasp so he could fall onto his side next to her. Liryn shuffled further down the bed so she could comfortably roll to face him, pressing her chest to his and nuzzling into his neck. Thrawn curled both his arms around her waist in return, holding her more snugly against him, and she hummed a small, happy noise.

“Do you need to use the ‘fresher?” Thrawn wondered a few minutes later as the thought occurred to him. Usually Liryn didn’t wrap herself around him like this until after she’d cleaned up. He'd assumed still having cum inside her after they were done was less than comfortable, but she just shook her head and looped an arm around his shoulders.

“I’m fine,” she said, her voice muffled with her face pressed to his neck as it was, “It’s nice, sometimes.” Thrawn felt her shift slightly, rubbing her thighs together in a way that made her breath come out warmer against his skin. His cock gave a half-hearted twitch of interest, but he wasn’t going to be able to get hard again quite so soon. 

“You don’t usually seem to like it very much,” Thrawn said. He nudged a leg forward between hers and Liryn immediately made room for it, throwing one of her own over his hip and grinding down onto his thigh with a quiet groan.

“Usually you don’t eat me out and then fuck me,” she replied breathily, kissing Thrawn when he slid a hand down to grab her ass, helping her rub against him. Her nails dig into his shoulder and her breath hitched as she rolled her hips, though the motion ended up being more of a slow grind, between Thrawn’s grip and how closely he’d pressed his leg between hers. Liryn must have been right on the edge when he’d finished fucking her, because she moaned loudly into his mouth and clamped her legs around his after less than a minute, shuddering and twitching her hips while she clung to him.

When she’d stopped shivering, Liryn cracked her eyes open, still wrapped around him with most of her chest and stomach flush with his. The top of Thrawn’s thigh was wet where it was still pushed up between her legs, but neither of them made any move to get up. Liryn didn’t relinquish her hold of him, but she did relax it, so her limbs were not so much grabbing him as they were draped over him. She smushed her face against his chest, sighing sleepily and closing her eyes again.

“I’m cold, grab the covers?” she mumbled. Thrawn looked down the bed, where the covers had ended up getting pushed earlier after they’d fallen into bed, and at the places Liryn’s arms and legs were still curled around him.

“You’d have to let go of me first,” he told her. She huffed and grumbled, but it was half-hearted at best and she let go of him quickly. Once Thrawn had covered them both and laid back down, Liryn pulled herself up onto his chest and settled there. 

“You don’t mind it when I get pushy, do you?” Liryn suddenly asked, after a few minutes of comfortable silence, where Thrawn had closed his eyes and just started to fall asleep. He blinked, tilting his head down to look at her.

“No, I don’t mind,” he said, watching Liryn shift so she could look back up at him.

“Okay, but do you actually like it? Because I can stop if you’re just tolerating it.” She sounded genuinely concerned, though she was doing a fairly good job hiding it behind a more casual tone. If he wasn’t already so familiar with her, he might have missed the tiny change in her voice.

“I do enjoy it,” Thrawn assured her, which seemed to put her at ease, and she laid her head on his chest. “You could be pushier even, and I wouldn’t mind.” Liryn raised her eyebrows, lifting her head back up to give him a measuring look.

“Do you want me to be?” she asked him. Her expression was expectant, full of the promise of something that was clearly very dependent on how he answered, and it made him pause. Did he want that? He’d been enjoying what Liryn did at what was essentially face-value, not bothering to think about whether or not he might want more than that. Now that he  _ was _ thinking about it though, the vague idea of Liryn taking even more control than she already was was definitely a little appealing, more than just a little if he was being entirely honest with himself.

“Yes,” Thrawn said, and Liryn scooted up so she could prop herself up with an elbow on the pillows.

“Alright,” she said, “How much?” She paused to let him answer, and when he seemed at a loss, kept going. “Do you want me to order you around? Push you around, physically? I’ve got a strap on, did you want me to fuck you? Because it sounds like you want me to dom you, but I need to know to what extent.” Thrawn blinked, trying to consider everything she’d said, but his mind kept catching on one point in particular. 

“You own a strap on?” he asked after a moment.

“Yes, is that surprising?” Liryn replied, and Thrawn tilted his head at her.

“A little,” he admitted, and she gave him a one-shouldered shrug.

“Well I do. And don’t think I haven’t noticed you never actually answered my question,” Liryn pointed out, “But if you don’t want to talk about this, we don’t have to.”

“So I haven’t,” Thrawn conceded, “I wasn’t trying to avoid answering, I was only surprised.” He collected his thoughts for a second before continuing. “I’d enjoy you giving me orders, but not being physically pushed around.” Liryn nodded, patiently waiting for him to continue and watching him as he thought. “I think I’d like having you fuck me too.” Liryn’s eyebrows rose again, apparently not expecting that.

“Really?” she wondered aloud.

“Yes, is that surprising?” Thrawn said with a grin, chuckling when Liryn rolled her eyes and gently pushed his face away with a huff.

“Alright then,” she said, shuffling back down to lay on his chest again, “If you’re serious, when’s the next full day you have off?”

* * *

 

Nervous wasn’t quite the right word for how Thrawn was feeling. That might have been a small part of it, but the majority was closer to anticipation, the thrill he felt laying here essentially at Liryn’s mercy. There wasn’t anything actually keeping him from getting up and leaving, all of it purely a psychological effect of how vulnerable this position felt – his chest and upper body pressed into the bed, guided into place by Liryn’s gentle hand between his shoulders, legs spread wide and hips propped up by a stack of pillows – but that didn’t change how much it was already affecting him, and they hadn’t even actually  started yet.

Thrawn took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He could hear Liryn moving around the room; she’d helped arrange him like this, then told him to relax while she got ready, so he’d made a conscious effort to do so, closing his eyes and focusing on how Liryn’s sheets felt against his bare skin. It couldn’t have been more than five minutes since then, but it felt like a small eternity had passed, each second seeming to drag by. He felt the bed dip slightly to one side and turned his head, looking over his shoulder to watch Liryn climb up beside him.

“Hey,” she said, running a palm up and down his spine as she leaned down to press a quick kiss to his shoulder, “You good?” Thrawn reassessed his position, shifting slightly to be sure it wasn’t making anything twinge uncomfortably.

“Yes,” he told her. Liryn nodded, shuffling down the bed and settling behind him on her heels, dropping something he couldn’t quite see on the bed beside her. She’d been holding it when she was next to him, but Thrawn’s brain had stalled for a moment after he’d answered, his attention caught on the strap-on jutting from Liryn’s pelvis, held in place there by a plain black harness. It wasn’t alarmingly large – it was a silvery pearlescent white, and a little smaller than he was if he had to make a guess – but seeing it made the whole situation feel so much more real than it had before. 

Liryn ran her hands up the backs of his thighs, her touch light and teasing, and the goosebumps that prickled there pulled him out of his thoughts. She repeated the motion, going further up each time until she was stroking the tops of his inner thighs with her thumbs, then even further until she was massaging and gripping his ass. Thrawn found himself arching into it, the motion simultaneously dragging his hardening cock over the pillows beneath him and making him suck in a sharp breath. Liryn didn’t draw it out for very long before pulling her hands back entirely, giving Thrawn a moment to relax until he heard the snap of a cap being opened and closed again. A few seconds later he felt the pad of Liryn’s thumb rubbing over and around his hole, slick and lukewarm with lube. 

Thrawn couldn’t help squirming against the unfamiliar sensation, and he wasn’t sure if he was trying to get closer or further away from it. The pressure was consistent and unrelenting, not pushing in but firm enough to send a shiver up his spine and make his skin tingle pleasantly. 

“Okay?” Liryn asked him, using her free hand to rub a soothing pattern on his hip. Thrawn had to swallow when his voice refused to work on the first try.

“Yes,” he said, his voice only a little uneven. Liryn replaced her thumb with an equally wet finger then, applying the slightest amount of pressure to press it inward. Thrawn’s hands clenched in the sheets as he forced himself to relax against the intrusion, and in a single slow slide Liryn had managed to bury her finger completely. She paused for a moment before gingerly beginning to move, spreading the lube coating her fingers around as he adjusted to the feeling of something moving inside him. When she removed it to recoat her fingers, Thrawn’s face felt warm and his breathing had picked up. 

“You’re being so good for me,” Liryn said in a low voice, skating her dry hand over his hip and thigh, before carefully pushing two fingers into him this time. “I can’t wait to see how pretty you look with my cock in you.” Her words made Thrawn’s face burn with what he was sure was a dark flush, and the combination of that with the slow stretch adding another finger brought pulled a low groan out of him. Her movement was less cautious now, twisting and spreading her fingers as she moved them inside of him. He’d mostly adjusted to the second finger when Liryn found what she’d evidently been searching for, firmly but carefully curling her fingers downward in a way that made Thrawn shudder and let out a surprised moan. He squirmed and gasped as Liryn continued lightly brushing the same spot over and over.

“Does that feel good?” she purred, keeping a tight grip on his hip to stop him from grinding down into the pillows or back onto her fingers.

“ _ Yes, _ ” Thrawn gasped, his whole body tensed as he tried to arch back anyway. He groaned in disappointment when Liryn pulled her fingers out, only to bite his bottom lip when she pressed three back into him, the sensation more intense for how hard he was now. She was definitely more focused on stretching him at this point, only occasionally brushing his prostate to make him moan at the contact.

This time when Liryn pulled back Thrawn heard the bottlecap click open once more, before something that felt much bigger than Liryn’s fingers was rubbed against his ass, easily sliding over his skin with the help of the lube. 

“Are you ready for me?” Liryn asked, closer than he’d expected her to be. Thrawn must have been too much in his own head to notice her lean over him and brace a hand next to his shoulder. Liryn continued to slide the head of the strap on over his hole, the slick length of it just barely catching the rim before continuing unimpeded; he struggled to find his voice, breathing heavily and getting distracted every time she repeated the motion.

“I’m ready,” Thrawn finally forced out, burying his face in the sheets and groaning when Liryn began pushing in. 

“I need you to relax for me, Thrawn,” she said, kissing the back of his neck as she was forced to a stop halfway in by his tensed muscles. She petted his hip while he tried to take slow, calming breaths through his nose, scattering kisses across his shoulders and upper back. “Mmm, good boy,” she told him when he’d loosened up enough for her to bury herself to the hilt. 

Thrawn shuddered when her hips pressed flush against his ass. He’d known it was going to be intense, but he still hadn’t known exactly  _ how _ it would feel. He was so full, it felt like the strap on was bigger than he knew it actually was, holding him open even tight as he was around it, and he was hyper aware of how the head was shifting against his prostate at the slightest movement. He could feel Liryn, the warmth of her body where it met his, and the mild chill everywhere their skin wasn’t pressed together. The pillows underneath him, providing the barest amount of friction, and not nearly enough.

Liryn pulled out of him no more than a few inches before grinding back in. Thrawn’s mouth fell open as he gasped, blinking to try and refocus his eyes before giving up entirely and letting them slip shut. Liryn did this a couple more times, pulling a short groan out of him each time. Then she straightened up, planting her hands on his hips and beginning to properly thrust into him. The strap on rubbed over his prostate every time she bottomed out, and soon Thrawn found himself moaning openly and rocking back into each thrust. 

“ _ Liryn, _ ” he gasped, shoulders bunched up around his ears as he panted and pressed his forehead into the sheets. The hands on his hips gripped a little tighter, and Liryn thrust into him with a bit more force, drawing out a high whimper that Thrawn was only vaguely aware had come from him. 

“Do you like it when I’m rough with you?” Liryn asked him, barely sounding winded as she repeated the motion. Thrawn could only gasp and moan wordlessly as she kept up the pace, not pausing to let him catch his breath this time. Answering didn’t even cross his mind until Liryn slowed back down to the gentler rhythm she’d had before, and he was able to think more clearly, if only marginally so.

“Ye- _ es _ ,” Thrawn breathed, voice hitching part-way through as he rolled his hips back to meet hers.

“Yes, what?” Liryn prompted, slowing to a frustrating grind once more.

“I like it when you’re rough,” Thrawn finally managed to say, shuddering and groaning as Liryn abruptly picked up speed again. “–  _ Ah! _ ” he gasped, fingers twisted in the sheets below him in search of some kind of stability. Their skin made an embarrassingly wet slapping sound where their bodies met, and it made Thrawn squirm even as he failed to hold back his own noises. The amount of stimulation was almost dizzying, and he lost track of how much time passed before Liryn spoke again.

“You gonna cum for me?” she purred, finally beginning to sound out of breath from the exertion. Thrawn couldn’t quite get his brain to string together the correct arrangement of steps to speak, and all that came out when he opened his mouth was another whimper. When it seemed like Liryn was slowing again he frantically nodded, hoping that would be good enough. He sucked in a shaky breath when she settled a hand on the junction of his neck and the back of his shoulder, leaning some of her weight there and pinning him while her other hand gripped his hip even tighter. 

Thrawn could feel himself getting closer and closer, the pleasant fog of an impending orgasm descending further over his thoughts every time Liryn thrust into him, or tugged him back into the motion, or briefly shifted more weight to the hand holding him down. He could feel a damp spot beneath him where his cock was rubbing against the pillows, and very suddenly he could feel himself right there on the edge, just shy of being able to actually cum. Liryn was still pounding into him, and the way he could feel most of her weight pinpointed at his shoulder and hip was perfect, but even rocking back into thrusts that made him lose his train of thought for a second wasn’t quite enough to tip him over. 

“Liryn,  _ I can’t–, _ ” Thrawn groaned, cutting himself of in frustration. 

“What’s wrong?” Liryn asked, immediately stopping, her voice suddenly serious instead of playful. It took Thrawn a few long, confused moments to realize he’d said that in Cheunh, his thoughts evidently too scattered to have found the right words in Basic.

“I’m alright,” he assured her breathlessly, “Please, I’m close.” 

“You’re sure?” Thrawn could hear the concerned frown when Liryn spoke, even as she slowly began working her way back up to how hard she’d been thrusting into him.

“ _ Yes, _ ” he gasped, “I just need–.” Thrawn wasn’t sure exactly what he needed. Liryn apparently understood what he was trying to say though, because she pressed herself up against the length of his back, planting a forearm beside his to take some of her weight.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you,” she said softly into his ear, the ghost of her breath making him shiver. Then Thrawn moaned when Liryn wedged her other hand between him and the pillows, stroking his cock every time she thrust into him. She wasn’t able to thrust quite as well with this new angle, but Thrawn barely even noticed, nearly overwhelmed by the extra attention. He rapidly approached the edge again, but this time he went sailing right over, crying out loudly as he came, his hips stuttering. 

Liryn kept going until he whined from the overstimulation, releasing her grip on his cock and stilling inside him. She lightly ran her hand from his ribs to his hip and back, very carefully not moving as Thrawn gasped and occasionally shuddered. Once he’d progressed to just breathing heavily, Liryn slowly pulled out, managing to get a small noise of discomfort even as careful as she was being. 

Thrawn shivered when she pulled away from his back, the sweat there rapidly cooling without Liryn’s body heat to warm it. He let the pillows do all the work of holding him up, his entire body feeling almost boneless now from the rush of endorphins. Thrawn could tell from how the bed dipped that Liryn had left and come back, and now she was sitting beside rather than behind him, rubbing his lower back.

“You okay?” she asked quietly, waiting for Thrawn to nod tiredly before she continued, gently tapping his hip to get his attention. “I’m gonna clean you up, tell me if it’s too much.” Thrawn had to force his muscles to cooperate so he could turn his head, and when he finally did Liryn was holding up a damp washcloth so he could see it more easily, the strap on and harness abandoned somewhere out of his line of sight.

“Alright,” he said, suddenly aware of just how much extra lube there was on his skin once Liryn began wiping it off. The process was thankfully over with soon, and then Liryn helped him roll onto his side; Thrawn hadn’t realized how stiff he’d gotten, holding that position for so long with so much tension in his muscles, until just now when he had to move. He watched Liryn carelessly push the stacked pillows off the side of the bed, before she pulled the covers back up from where they’d been pushed out of the way.

“Do you want anything to drink?” she asked him, paused at the edge of the bed in the process of getting back on.

“Mmm, no,” Thrawn mumbled. He was more tired now than anything else, and he watched Liryn slide under the covers next to him and prop up half the normal pillows behind her, so that she was reclining but still partially upright. He let her tug him close and arrange him, ending up with his head pillowed on her stomach, his arms around her and her knees bracketing either side of his torso as she lightly ran her fingers through his hair.

“How was it?” Liryn asked. Thrawn took a deep breath and let it out in a tired sigh, absently rubbing his cheek against her skin.

“Tiring,” he replied, a tiny smile quirking his lips when Liryn snorted. 

“Besides that,”Liryn said, giving his hair the gentlest of tugs when she ran her fingers through this time.

“It was good,” Thrawn told her, already half asleep from the exhaustion and how comfortable he now was. 

“Good,” Liryn said, massaging the back of his neck now as he relaxed fully against her. If she had a problem with him falling asleep on her she didn’t say so, and Thrawn slowly drifted off as she moved on to rubbing his shoulders and the parts of his back she could reach.


End file.
